CIVICS 

f^NfeMTTORK STATE 







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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



CIVICS 



FOR NEW YORK STATE 



charles Deforest hoxie 

Member of the New York Bar 




NEW YORK • : • CINCINNATI • : • CHICAGO 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 






THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

AUG. 31 1901 

OOPVRIQHT ENTRY 

CLASS a- XXc. N« 
COPY 3. 



^■K?*- 1 



Copyright, 1901, by 

charles deforest hoxie 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 



Civics for New York State 
w. p. 1 



Preface 

No text-book, however good, can take the place of the 
teacher. The book may supply materials for study, furnish 
an outline and guide for the student, stimulate him to orig- 
inal thought and inquiry ; but it is the teacher, after all, 
who must vitalize the subject. 

It is the aim of Civics for New York State to help the 
teacher in his efforts to help the boys and girls of New 
York to an understanding of the several governments, 
local, State and national, under which we live ; to arouse in 
their minds an interest in the work which the different gov- 
ernments are called upon to perform ; and to inspire our 
young people with a love not only for their country and 
State, but also for the city or other local division in which 
they live, and a desire to see its public business wisely and 
justly administered. 

To accomplish these purposes the author has aimed, first 
of all, to make the subject — often looked upon as a some- 
what dry one — alive with interest ; secondly, to develop it 
in accordance with true pedagogic principles ; thirdly, to 
treat it historically, so that present forms and institutions 
may be traced to their historic origins ; and fourthly, to 
combine all with a full and comprehensive summary of the 
latest general laws and principles underlying the govern- 
ments affecting the people of New York, and an account of 
our more important public officers, their powers and duties. 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

With these ends in view, the book at the same time fol- 
lows closely the plan laid down by the New York State 
Board of Regents in their Syllabus outlining the subjects 
necessary to be mastered in order to pass the Regents ex- 
aminations in civics ; and the student who makes a careful 
reading of this book and its collateral references should be 
able to pass any ordinary Regents examination in civics. 

Besides its use as a text-book, it is hoped that the book 
may prove of interest and value to the general reader, lead- 
ing him to realize more vividly the truth that governments, 
laws and public officials are but the machinery by which he 
and his neighbors secure the doing of needed public work ; 
that he has a direct interest in the proper performance of 
this work ; and that his interest requires his attendance at 
the caucus and the primary as well as at the public elec- 
tions. In short, it is hoped that Civics for New York State 
will stimulate good citizenship, not only in the schoolroom, 
but in the busy world outside. 

The summaries following the several chapters, and the 
maps and diagrams accompanying the text, will aid the 
student in his efforts to fix the subject clearly in mind. 
Further sources of information will be found at the close 
of a number of chapters under the title " Additional Read- 
ing." The " Regents Syllabus," (page x 35i) with page ref- 
erences to this book, will be found helpful to those who are 
preparing to pass the Regents examinations. 

C. de F. Hoxie. 



Contents 



CHAP. 
I. 



III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 
X. 

XI. 
XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 
XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 



The Town and its Public Work 

Government by Town Meeting 

Town Officers, Their Powers and Duties 

The Village and its Government . 

The Government of Cities .... 

Greater New York 

The County ....... 

The State, and the People Who Made It 
How New York Became a State 

The State Constitution 

Personal Rights 

The Right to Vote 

Departments of State Government — The Legislature 

The Legislature — (Continued) 

The State's Executive Department . 

The Judiciary Department — How Criminals 

Brought to Justice 

The Judiciary Department— Civil Suits at Law 

The Public Schools 

Assessment and Collection of Taxes 

The Conduct of Public Elections 

The State and the United States 

The United States, the States, and the People 

Department^ of United States Government . 

The United States and Other Nations . 

Personal and Property Relations 



Are 



page 
7 

13 
23 
33 
40 

5 2 
70 

84 

94 

103 

"3 

124 

131 

140 

'53 

166 

178 
189 
201 
214 
224 

23* 
260 
286 
303 



CONTENTS. 



Appendix 



Constitution of the United States . . . . . . . -317 



Summary of New York State Constitution ...... 

Table of the principal officers of local, state, and national governments, 

with mode of election or appointment, term of office, and salary 
Regents' Syllabus, with references to corresponding topics in this book . 
Index ............. 



3 2 9 

347 
35 1 
355 



Maps, Diagrams and Illustrations 

City of New York, by Boroughs and Districts of Local Improvei 

City of New York, by Senate and Assembly Districts 

Map of Oneida County, showing towns, villages and cities 

State, by Counties 

State, by Senate Districts . 

Senate Chamber 

State Capilol 

State, by Judiciary Districts 

Specimen Ballot 

The Capitol at Washington 



5 2 .53 

56,57 

71 

72 

138 

134 

142 

186 

219 

2^5 



CHAPTER I. 

The Town and its Public Work. 

As we travel a country road in the early spring we some- 
times come to places where the rains have washed deep holes 
in the roadbed. Rough stones and boulders lie uncovered ; 
a small bridge has been carried away by the floods ; 
our wagon wheels sink deep in mud and water. The road as 
it stands can no longer be used in comfort and safety. It 
must be repaired. Earth and gravel must be drawn and 
placed on the roadbed, the bridge must be rebuilt, and the 
water drained away. 

Who is to do this work, so necessary for the comfort and 
safety of the travelling public ? Who will superintend the 
workmen to be employed ? Who will pay their wages ? 
Who will supply materials for repairs ? These are questions 
which confront at some time or other, every person living 
upon a public road, or interested in its use. 

The natural answer to these questions is that the public 
officers in charge of the road will see to its repair, and that 
the taxpayers will meet the expense. But here again arise 
more questions. Who and what are public officers ? How 
are they chosen ? What gives them authority over roads 
and other public affairs ? How does the money to pay for 
needed public work find its way from the pockets of the 
taxpayers, into the hands of the proper public officers? In 
attempting to mend our country road, we find ourselves 

7 



8 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

face to face with questions involving almost the entire 
machinery and authority of government. 

The first step naturally taken in the mending of the road 
would be to call a meeting of the persons most immediately 
interested, to discuss the work to be done, to decide on the 
amount of money needed, to select suitable persons to super- 
vise the work, to apportion each interested person's share of 
the cost, and to arrange for collecting the money. This nat- 
ural method of procedure corresponds very closely with the 
legal method of securing the performance of most needed 
public work in the country districts of New York. In these 
places meetings of the voters are regularly held to discuss 
and decide questions relating to the public business. These 
meetings are known as Town Meetings. Regular town 
meetings are held once in every two years in all the towns 
of New York. This brings us to another question, What is 
the town ? 

The Town. — If we start from a country place in New 
York, and drive off in any single direction for three or four 
miles, we shall come to the borders of another town from 
the one where we started. Wherever we go throughout the 
State, except in the cities, we find the country cut up into 
towns, or townships, as they are sometimes called. As a 
rule, each town differs in size and shape from all the others ; 
but no town is so large that its voters may not conveniently 
gather in town meeting. In many of the western States, 
towns are laid out in blocks of territory, six miles long and 
six miles wide, like the squares on a checkerboard, each 
town containing about thirty-six square miles. Towns in 
New York 1 and the older eastern States, are not thus laid 

1 Except in the western part of the State, and in some portions of the cen- 
tral part. 



THE TOWN AXD ITS PUBLIC WORK. 9 

out ; but they were formed gradually as people from Hol- 
land, England, and other European countries, came two or 
three hundred years ago to this country, built forts and es- 
tablished trading posts to trade with the Indians, cleared the 
land of forests, laid out farms and gathered in villages. As 
public necessity required, local governments were estab- 
lished, and local officers chosen to administer public affairs. 
Thus many towns of New York were formed, here and there, 
with irregular boundaries and of different shapes and sizes ; 
and out of these early forms have gradually developed our 
present city, town and village governments. We may speak, 
then, of a town in New York, as lying within a certain 
piece of territory, the voters of which meet regularly to se- 
lect town officers and order the town's public work. 
Several towns united form a county, ! of which there are 
sixty-one in New York. 

The Town a Municipal Corporation. — But while a town 
may be said to lie within a certain definite piece of territory 
that may be shown on a map, the town itself is not terri- 
tory. The real town consists of the townspeople living 
within the territory, who are united for purposes of town 
government. In this sense a town is a municipal corpora- 
tion, which being explained, means a number of persons as- 
sociated together for purposes of government, and hav- 
ing by law power to do or direct the public affairs of a cer- 
tain territory. A town, then, consists of the people of the 
town united in a body politic, or municipal corporation. 

The Town Governed by Its People through the Town 
Meeting. — The town's public business is largely transacted 
by its voters assembled in town meeting. In the town 
meeting any voter may propose any action of interest to the 

l The counties forming the city of New York have now no towns. 



io GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

townspeople, allowed by the law ; his proposition may be 
debated by the voters in open meeting, and decided, " yes " 
or " no, " by majority vote of those present. The final de- 
cisions of a town meeting upon questions relating to its pub- 
lic affairs, are known as the town's By-laws. The word " by " 
in by-law comes from an old Norse word meaning town. It 
probably crept into our language centuries ago, when the 
Danes were masters in Great Britain and Danish kings sat 
on the English throne. In our New York town meetings, 
money needed for carrying on the town's public work may 
be voted, Assessors may be chosen to apportion each per- 
son's share of the money to be raised in town for public 
purposes, and a Collector to collect this money. Money 
thus lawfully assessed and collected from private persons 
for public purposes is called a Tax ; and the power to assess 
and collect taxes, possessed by the town meeting is one of 
the most important powers of government. 

The work of the town meeting, thus described, consti- 
tutes very largely what we call " governing the town." In- 
deed, for many purposes, we may say that the town meet- 
ing, attended by the lawful voters of the town, discussing the 
town's public work, electing officers to carry on that work, 
and directing the assessment and collection of taxes, 
is the government of the town actually assembled and doing 
its work. We sometimes speak of " the government " as 
if it were some mysterious, far-away institution, quite apart 
from the common people. In the town meeting, we see 
that "the government" consists of the people, assembled 
according to the forms of law, discussing and directing their 
own public work. 

The Town an Example of Direct Democratic Govern- 
ment. — The government of a town by its voters assembled 



THE TOWN AXD ITS PUBLIC WORK. II 

in town meeting, is an example of what is known as direct 
democratic government, as distinguished from what is 
known as representative democratic government. 1 Un- 
der direct democratic government, the voting population 
decides directly, " yes " or " no," questions relating to pub- 
lic affairs. Under representative democratic government the 
voters choose certain persons to represent them, and then 
leave to these, their chosen Representatives, the decision of 
public questions, and the direction and management of pub- 
lic affairs. As the town is an example of direct democratic 
government, so our city, county, and State governments, as 
well as the government of the United States, are examples 
very largely of representative democratic government, pub- 
lic affairs under these governments being conducted mainly 
by bodies of representatives chosen by the people. Thus, 
the representative law-making body of the city is the Board 
of Aldermen, of the county the Board of Supervisors, of the 
State the State Legislature, of the United States the na- 
tional Congress. This distinction between direct and repre- 
sentative democratic government will be shown more fully 
in examples given in later chapters of this book. Mean- 
while it is well to remember that in no place do the people 
of New York come into more direct relations with their 
government than in the town meeting. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What officers have charge of public roads in your lo- 
cality ? 

1 Democratic comes from the Greek words, demos, the people, and 
kraleo, to govern. Hence, democratic government means a government by 
the people. 



12 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

How is the money supplied for the care and maintenance 
of such roads ? 

Locate your town, with reference to other towns, and 
describe its boundaries. 

Describe the circumstances of the first settlement of your 
town. 

What is the town ? 

What is a municipal corporation ? 

What are town by-laws, and how are they made ? 

What is a tax ? 

How are town taxes voted ? 

What would you say of a government that did not have 
the power to tax ? 

What is direct democratic government, and how does 
it differ from representative democratic government ? 



CHAPTER II. 

Government by Town Meeting. 

Let us attend a town meeting held in one of the towns 
of New York. Every town, we have learned, holds a regu- 
lar town meeting once in two years, and special meetings 
may be called at other times on petition of the taxpayers. 
As a rule, biennial town meetings are held on the second 
Tuesday in February, or on the second Tuesday in March 
of the odd-numbered years, these being the dates fixed by 
State law. 1 As we approach the town hall or other place 
where the meeting is being held, we notice an unusual stir 
about the building. Men are going in and coming out. 
Horses and wagons stand waiting outside, for many of the 
voters have driven considerable distances to attend the 
meeting. Inside we meet with a crowd of townspeople — 
staid business men, farmers bronzed and gray-bearded, 
bright young fellows just reached twenty-one, the shrewd- 
faced country lawyer, the doctor, the preacher, and the 
schoolmaster. Every wide-awake voter attends the town 
meeting. 

At one end of the room, facing the people, sits a Justice 

] The latter date is for town meetings in counties having more than 300,000 
and less than 600,000 population. The board of supervisors of any county 
has power to fix the time for holding its biennial town meetings on any day 
between February 1 and May I, inclusive, or on the first Tuesday after the 
first Monday in November (General Election Day). — Taws of 1900, Chapter 
374. Special town meeting may be called at any time on petition of twenty- 
five taxpayers, or by certain town officers. 

13 



14 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

of the Peace, the officer chosen to preside. Before him is 
a row of ballot boxes. In charge of these are officers 
known as Inspectors of Election. Near by is a row of 
small booths or stalls with swinging doors, each just about 
large enough to admit a man. Men are going in and com- 
ing out of the booths, each with an official ballot, on 
which are the names of fellow-townsmen to be selected as 
public officers of the town for the next two years or more. 
The voters coming from the booths hand their ballots, 
marked and folded, to an inspector of election. The in- 
spector separates the "stub ends" and drops the ballots, 
still folded, through a thin slit in the top of the ballot box. 
We see through its glass sides, the ballots fall among those 
already in the box. This is the scene which has been going 
on in the town meeting since sunrise. 

Twelve o'clock noon comes. The presiding justice of 
the peace now declares the meeting open for the discussion 
of the business not to be decided by ballot. Any voter of 
the town may now propose in open meeting any question 
of interest to the townspeople, allowed by the law ; the 
voters present may debate it and decide it, " yes " or " no," 
by majority vote of the meeting ; and if adopted, it be- 
comes one of the by-laws of the town. What are the 
questions which the people may thus debate and decide in 
the town meeting ? 

Powers of a Biennial Town Meeting. — We find, laid 
down in the laws of New York, that a biennial town meet- 
ing, besides its power to select town officers, has these 
additional powers : 

Power to decide how many constables, not exceeding five, the town 
may have ; to direct the prosecution or defense of lawsuits in which 
the town is interested ; to pass by-laws for the destruction of noxious 



GOVERNMENT BY TOWN MEETING. 15 

weeds and animals in the town ; to establish pounds or enclosures 
where stray animals may be confined ; to abate a public nuisance ; 
to make rules for the management of the public property belonging 
to the town, such as a town hall, a park, or a common owned by the 
town ; to make rules for ascertaining whether boundary fences are 
properly built and kept; to direct the raising of money for the sup- 
port of poor people in the town who need assistance; and finally, 
a very broad power, described as "power to determine any other 
question lawfully submitted." J 

Any proposition relating to the carrying out of any of 
these powers may be introduced by any lawful voter of the 
town meeting, may be discussed, and decided, " yes " or 
"no," by majority vote of the meeting; but no question 
involving the spending of the town's public money may be 
proposed after two o'clock in the afternoon, and any proposi- 
tion to spend over $500 must be decided by ballot. The 
Town Clerk acts as secretary during the discussions, record- 
ing the result of each vote taken. The presiding justice 
of the. peace preserves order, and conducts the meeting 
according to the rules of debate. When this deliberative 
business is concluded, the meeting is again opened for the 
election of public officers, and for the determination of 
other questions to be decided by written or printed ballot. 

Procedure in Case of Questions Decided by Written 
or Printed Ballot. — Important propositions relating to a 
town's public business are sometimes decided by written or 
printed ballot, without previous debate in the town meeting. 
In such a case the proposition is first submitted to the town 
clerk, who has ballots prepared both for and against it. 
The clerk causes notices of the proposition and the pro- 
posed vote upon it, to be posted in conspicuous places at 
least ten days before the meeting, so that every voter may 
1 Laws of 1897, Chapter 481. 



1 6 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

inform himself and come prepared to cast an intelligent 
ballot. 

Town Meeting a Very Old Form of Government. — 
The principle underlying the town meeting — that of direct 
local government by the people — may be traced in the 
practices of the earliest known ancestors of the English- 
speaking people. More than a century and a half before 
the Christian era the Roman general Julius Caesar found 
the fair-haired Teutonic or German ancestors of the Eng- 
lish, living in groups of related families, on the banks of the 
Elbe, the Rhine, and the Weser, and along the borders of 
the North Sea. These family groups moved each year from 
place to place, taking with them their horses, cattle and 
other possessions. The members of each group were 
united by the tie of blood relationship, and each had its 
head man or chief. Such a wandering family group is called 
a clan. It is the first or primitive form of political organi- 
zation among partially civilized people. Questions of inter- 
est to the clan were decided by its fighting members l in 
public meeting, much as questions are to-day decided by 
the voters of a town meeting. 

The Mark. — One hundred fifty years after Caesar, the 

1 " The earliest form of political union in the world is one which rests, not 
upon territorial contiguity, but upon blood relationship, either real or as- 
sumed," says Mr. John Fiske in American Political Ideas. The primitive 
clan, existing as an enlarged kind of family, had its consultative or legisla- 
tive body, which met for the discussion and decision of questions of interest 
to the entire clan. This consultative or legislative body, according to Mr. 
Herbert Spencer, was at first only a council of war. " Evidence coming 
from many peoples in all times shows," says Spencer in his Political Insti- 
tutions " that the consultative body is at the outset nothing more than a 
council of war. It is in the open-air meeting of armed men that the cluster of 
leaders is first seen performing that deliberative function in respect of military 
measures, which is subsequently extended to other measures." 



GOVERNMENT BY TOWN MEETING. 17 

Roman historian Tacitus wrote of our German ancestors. 
The clan had then ceased to move from place to place. 
Each group of related families had settled down in its own 
village, on its own spot of cleared land in the forest, by 
spring or running stream. About the village were the 
flocks and herds and farms of the village community. Sur- 
rounding such a farmer village was a thick-set hedge or 
palisaded wall to protect it from its enemies ; and each 
village, with its farms, was separated from neighboring 
villages by a belt of waste or uncultivated land. This belt 
was called a " mark," and the protecting hedge or wall 
was called a "tun " (pronounced toon). In course of time 
all within the mark, including the village itself, became 
known as " the mark," " the tun," or " the town." Thus 
arose the English words, " town " and " township." At first 
the farm lands of such a village community were owned in 
common, and once a year in early spring the freemen of the 
town gathered in " tungemote " (town meeting) to parcel 
out these common lands for cultivation. Here on a high 
mound or under the spreading branches of a great tree, the 
" tungemote " decided the customs of tillage and voted 
11 yes " or " no," on the question of admitting strangers to the 
protection of the tun, and to a share of the common lands. 1 

1 For a complete account of the mark system, see Stubbs' Constitutional 
History of England, Volume I., Sections 23, etc. Fiske says : " The Mark 
community was a complete self-governing body. The assembly of the marks- 
men, or members of the community, allotted lands for village cultivation, 
determined the law, or declared the custom as to methods of tillage, fixed 
the date for sowing and reaping, voted upon the admission of new families 
into the village, and in general transacted what was regarded as the public 
business of the community. In all essential respects this village assembly or 
mark-mote would seem to have resembled the town meetings of New 
England." 

Hoxie's N. Y.-2 



1 8 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

The Town Meeting Carried Into England. — Our Ger- 
man ancestors were a race of warriors and conquerors. In 
the fifth and sixth centuries, three Low-German l peoples, 
speaking different dialects of a common tongue, crossed the 
North Sea and landed on the coast of Britain. They drove 
back or conquered the inhabitants, and colonized the coun- 
try. On English soil they planted the "tun" and set up 
the town meeting. Here, as in the forests of ancient Ger- 
many, the freemen met in " tungemote," passed «* by-laws " 
for the ordering of the town's public business, chose a 
" reeve " or head man to preside over the town meeting, 
and to enforce its by-laws ; and a " tithingman," or petty 
constable, to arrest offenders against the law, and to preserve 
the public peace. 

The Parish. — When England in the sixth and seventh 
centuries became converted to Christianity, churches were 
built and the land was divided into parishes, each under 
its parish priest. In this division for church purposes, the 
boundary of a parish usually coincided with the boundary 
of a township, and the freemen of the town became voters 
in the " Vestry Meeting " that governed the parish for church 
purposes. The vestry meeting was so called because it was 
held in the roOm of the church where the vestments were 
kept. In this meeting the voters of the parish church taxed 
themselves for church purposes, and for the support of the poor. 
The freemen of the town, being usually church members, 
voted in vestry meeting, and soon affairs of the town became 
so involved with affairs of the parish, that nearly all were 
transacted in vestry meeting. In this way the voters elected 
in vestry meeting, along with "church wardens," or over- 

1 So called because they lived in the lowlands of what is now Germany 
and the Netherlands. 



GOVERNMENT BY TOWN MEETING. 19 

seers of the church, " way wardens," or overseers of the 
highways, and the petty constable or " tithingman." A 
vestry clerk was also chosen to keep the records of the 
vestry meeting and the parish. 

The Manor. — While the English town was thus losing its 
identity in the parish, great political changes took place in 
England. During the fighting which resulted in the con- 
quest of Britain great chiefs arose. Little kingdoms were 
formed, ruled by petty kings. These chiefs and kings seized 
on the conquered land and parcelled it out in large allot- 
ments to their followers. As early as the eighth century, it 
is said, conquest and purchase had given rise to great es- 
tates, so that all the arable land in some neighborhoods was 
in the hands of one wealthy proprietor or lord. Gradually 
the great lords absorbed even the lands of the free towns- 
men, and the townspeople passed from independent villagers 
occupying their own lands, to tenants living on the land of 
a lord. After the conquest of England by William of Nor- 
mandy in 1066, what was once the free English township 
had become the Manor 1 of the lord. 2 The principle of local 

1 Manor, from the Latin word man ere y to dwell, denoted originally the 
large mansion or dwelling of the lord. 

* On the relation of the ancient English town to the parish and the manor, 
Professor Stubbs, in his Constitutional History of England, Volume I., Sec- 
tion 39, says : " The unit of the constitutional machinery or local administration, 
the simplest form of social organization, is the township. It may represent 
the original allotment of the smallest subdivision of the free community, or 
the settlement of the kindred, colonizing on their own account, or the estate 
of the great proprietor who has a tribe of dependents. The internal organi- 
zation in both cases seems to have been much the same, for the dependent com- 
munities had probably in most cases been originally free, and reduced to de- 
pendence by a powerful neighbor ; or were composed of his tenants who en- 
tered into the rights and duties of men whose estates their lord had purchased 
or accumulated by inheritance." In Section 40 he says : "Ina further stage 



20 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

self-government by the people survived, however, in certain 
meetings of the manor. The adult male residents assem- 
bled in the manor Court Leet, presided over by the lord's 
steward. Here a jury was chosen to inquire into offenses 
against the law, and here by-laws were made regulating the 
intercourse of the people of the manor. In Court Baron 
the freeholders of the manor — those holding lands of the 
lord — met and decided disputes between tenants, or between 
the tenants and their lord. 

The Town Meeting in America. — When the Pilgrim 
Fathers came to America in 1620 they brought with them 
the principle of the town meeting. On shipboard, while 
yet out at sea, the Pilgrims gathered about their leaders in 
the Mayflower, and signed a written document which laid 
down a plan for the government of the settlement which 
they proposed to found. This document is sometimes 
spoken of as the first written constitution adopted by the 
people of America. Under it every freeman was to have a 
voice and vote in the decision of public affairs. The' Pil- 
grims were one branch of the great body of religious re- 
formers, known as Puritans. Soon after the coming of the 
Pilgrims great numbers of Puritans came to New England, 
where they settled. They grouped themselves in villages 
about the village church, each village surrounded by the 
farms of the villagers, much as the ancestors of the English 
had grouped themselves in the ancient German mark. Here 

the township appears in its ecclesiastical form as the parish or portion of a 
parish, the district assigned to a church or priest. The boundaries of the 
parish and the township or townships with which it coincides are generally 
the" same ; in small parishes the idea and even the name of township is fre- 
quently at the present day, sunk in that of the parish ; and all the business 
that is not manorial is dispatched in vestry meetings, which are however 
primarily meetings of the township for church purposes." 



GOVERNMENT BY TOWN MEETING. 21 

in its primitive simplicity was again set up the town and the 
town meeting. All the grown men of a New England 
township were expected to attend its annual town meeting, 
held in the spring of the year, to pass by-laws and to elect 
town officers. 

The Town Meeting in New York. — The Dutch, who 
settled New York, were descendants .of the same Low- 
German stock as the English. Holland, the home of the 
Dutchmen, " early became an aggregate of towns, each pro- 
viding for its own defense, administering its own finances 
and governing itself by its own laws. 1 The Dutch brought 
the principle of the town meeting to " New Netherland," as 
they called what is now New York ; and the Dutch settle- 
ments on Long Island, and along the Hudson River, were 
early given the privilege of choosing their own public offi- 
cers and making by-laws for their own local government 
" according to the customs and manners of Holland." 2 

In 1664 war between England and the Netherlands re- 
sulted in New Netherland becoming an English province. 
It passed into the hands of the English Duke of York and 
became known thereafter as New York. Under English 
rule town meetings were established in New York, at which 
the landowners elected " a constable and eight overseers " 
who acted as a local governing board for the town with 
power to make town by-laws. 3 This form of government 
was less democratic than in New England, where the town 
officers simply carried out the wishes of the town meeting. 
In the next chapter will be described town government as 
we find it to-day in New York. 

1 Broadhead's History of New York. 

8 Elting's Dutch Village Communities on the Hudson River. 

3 Th\vaites's Colonies. 



22 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Where are town meetings held in your town ? 

Are these meetings held in a single place for the town as 
a whole, or are they held in the different election districts ? 

What is the date of the next biennial town meeting in 
your town? 

Who may vote at town meetings ? 

What are some of the questions that may be decided by 
the voters of a town meeting ? 

What principle of government is common to the ancient 
German clan, the German mark, the English parish, the 
court leet of the manor, and the modern town meeting ? 

In what way were the early town meetings of New Eng- 
land more democratic than the first town meetings in New 
York ? 



CHAPTER III. 

Town Officers, Their Powers and Duties. 

In the New York town meeting we saw the voters pass- 
ing from the polling booths, each with an official ballot 
marked and folded, to deposit it in the ballot box. On these 
official ballots, prepared by the public election officers, ap- 
pear the names of all persons regularly nominated according 
to law for town officers. Let us look at an official ballot for 
a list of officers chosen at a biennial town meeting. Here 
is the list with the term for which officer is chosen : 

Officers Elected at a Biennial Town Meeting. — One 
Supervisor for two years, one Town Clerk for two years, one 
Collector for two years, one or three Overseers of the Poor 
for two years, one or three Commissioners of Highways for 
two years, not more than five Constables for two years, two 
Inspectors of Election for each election district in town for 
two years, two Justices of the Peace for four years. 

These officers, except the justices of the peace, are known 
as the town's Executive Officers, because they are chosen 
to execute or carry out the will of the people as resolved in 
town meeting, and to execute or enforce other town laws. 
Besides these, two additional inspectors of election are ap- 
pointed for each election district by the presiding officer of 
the town meeting, from among the inspectors nominated by 
the political party that cast votes next in number to the 
party winning the election. And this brings us to the ques- 
tion : How are the names of persons to be voted for placed 
on the official ballot? 

23 



24 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

Naming Candidates for Office. — In every town and city 
of New York, there are, as we know, two or more political 
parties — Republican, Democratic, Prohibition, Socialist, 
etc., — whose members vote for public officers. The voters 
of each party in a town meet before election day, at the 
time and in the manner prescribed by State law, each 
party in its own nominating convention or primary as- 
sembly. In these meetings the voters choose the men 
whom their party will support for public office at a coming 
election. These " nominations," as they are called, are sent 
to the officers whose duty it is to prepare the official bal- 
lots, and the names are placed in separate party columns on 
the ballot. There is also a column in which any voter may 
write the name of any person for whom he wishes to vote, 
though that person may not have been named by the con- 
vention or primary assembly of any party. The voter takes 
an official ballot, thus prepared, l into the voting booth, and 
there indicates by a pencil mark the names of those for 
whom he wishes to vote. The ballots thus marked are de- 
posited in the ballot box, the nominee receiving the most 
votes for a particular office being elected. 

Town Executive Officers — The Supervisor. — The chief 
executive officer of the town is the supervisor. This is a 
comparatively modern office, the first supervisors in the 
towns of New York having been elected under a State law 
passed in 1703. The supervisor receives and pays out all 
moneys raised for the public work of his town, except 
moneys raised for highways and for the support of the poor. 
Money for highways goes to the commissioner of high- 
ways, and money for the support of the town poor to the 
overseers of the poor. The supervisor, although elected 

1 See Chapter XX., The Conduct of Elections, for specimen official ballot. 



TO UN OFFICERS, THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES. 25 

by the people of the town, is a county as well as a town 
officer ; and he represents his town in the law-making body 
of the county known as the County Board of Supervisors. 
This custom of representing the town in the county board 
of supervisors may be traced to an old English custom of 
sending the " reeve " or head man of each town, and " four 
discreet men," to represent the English town in the polit- 
ical gathering known as the " shire mote," (shire meeting) 
the English shire corresponding to our county. 

The Town Clerk. — The town clerk is a sort of general 
clerk or secretary for the town. He keeps a record of the 
public business transacted at town meetings, and has charge 
of books and papers belonging to the town. Our modern 
town clerk is a lineal descendant of the clerk elected by the 
voters of the parish in the old English vestry meeting. 

Highway Commissioners. — The highway commission- 
ers have the general care and oversight of roads and bridges 
in the town. They divide the town into Road Districts and 
appoint an Overseer of Roads for each district. Money for 
the roads may be collected as a part of the general town 
tax, or it may be raised from the people of the different road 
districts. In some towns every male resident ! twenty-one 
years of age and over, is required, either to work one day or 
to pay for at least one day's work in a year on the public 
roads of his district. This individual tax is sometimes called 
a " poll tax," that is a tax levied on each " poll " or head. A 
person taxed for maintaining the roads of his district may 
" work out" his tax by himself performing labor upon the 
roads, or he may pay the tax in money. "Working out 
the road tax " is a very old English custom, the British churl 

1 Certain persons, as clergymen, old soldiers, etc., are exempt from the poll 
tax. 



26 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

of twelve hundred years ago being familiar with " the spec- 
tacle of the road officer with his company of neighbors en- 
gaged in repairing the public ways." : Besides their general 
oversight of roads, highway commissioners, may, on the 
.direction of commissioners appointed by the County Judge, 
lay out new highways or discontinue old ones. 

Overseers of the Poor. — Persons in town unable to care 
and provide for themselves or who have no relatives to sup- 
port them, are looked after by the overseers of the poor. 
These officers may assist a poor person at his own home, or 
send him to the County Poor House, to be provided for at 
the expense of the town. 

Constables. — The town constable, although his duties 
are now comparatively humble, may boast of a famous de- 
scent. The constable comes from an ancient German of- 
ficer known as the " tithingman," who was responsible for 
the good behavior of ten heads of families in the old Teu- 
tonic division known as " The Hundred, " 2 a form of govern- 
ment next above the German mark. In England the con- 
stable was elected, sometimes by the townspeople, some- 
times in the manor court, and sometimes in the vestry 
meeting. His duties were to arrest criminals and to keep 
the public peace. The New York constable carries out 
the legal orders of the justices of the peace. On an order 
from a magistrate he may arrest persons accused of crime, 
or he may arrest suspected persons without such an order. 
The name 4< cpnstable " comes from two Latin words, 
" comes stabuli," meaning a master of horse. It was 

1 Howard's Local Constitutional History of the United States. 

2 The Hundred was a political division between the town and the larger 
tribal division corresponding to our county. The State of Delaware is to-day 
divided into " Hundreds." 



TOWN OFFICERS, THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES. 27 

formerly applied by the kings of France to commanders of 
the army. The name was introduced into England with the 
Norman Conquest, and soon came to mean an officer who 
supported the king in preserving the public peace. 

Assessors and Collector. — The assessors fix, for pur- 
poses of taxation, the value of each man's taxable property, 
the amount of the tax which each individual taxpayer is to 
pay being found by comparing the value of his taxable 
property with the total value of the property in town sub- 
ject to taxation. The collector collects each person's share 
of the taxes, after it has been determined by the proper of- 
ficers. l 

Inspectors of Election. — Four inspectors of election pre- 
side at each polling place 2 of the town meetings or other 
public elections. They receive the official ballots from the 
voters, place them in the ballot boxes, and count the bal- 
lots at the close of election. 

The Justice of the Peace The justice of the peace is 

the town's judicial officer, and each town has four justices 
elected for terms of four years each. The justice of the 
peace hears and determines suits at law, where the sum sued 
for does not exceed $200, and he tries persons accused of 
petty offenses. He issues warrants 3 for the arrest of persons 
suspected of crime, and though he may not try persons for 
grave offenses, such as murder and burglary, he may ex- 
amine them when arrested and brought before him, and send 
them to jail till they can be tried by the higher courts. A 
justice of the peace may order a constable to summon be- 

1 See Chap. XIX., Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 
5 A town meeting may sometimes be divided, the voters of each part of the 
meeting casting their ballots at separate polling places. 

3 See Chap. XVI., How Criminals are Brought to Justice. 



28 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

fore him twelve citizens of the town, who are property- 
owners, from among whom six may be drawn as a Justice's 
Jury, to aid in determining the facts in suits tried before the 
justice. The office of justice of the peace may be traced 
to an old English officer known as Conservator of the 
Peace whose duty it was to afford protection against unlaw- 
ful force and violence, common during many periods of 
early English history. 

The Town Board. — Nearly all officers of the town re- 
ceive and pay out town money in the discharge of their 
public duties. They account for this money before what is 
known as the town board. This is composed of the su- 
pervisor, town clerk, and justices of the peace, or any two 
of the justices. Any person having a claim against the 
town may present it to the town board, which may allow 
or reject it. Appeals from decisions of the town board 
may be taken to the county board of supervisors, which 
has power to reverse the decision of the town board. A 
town may elect three Auditors to examine the accounts of 
its officers, instead of having them examined by the town 
board. 

Pay of Town Officers. — Most of the town officers above 
described are paid from two dollars to six dollars a day for 
each day of actual service to the town. Justices of the 
peace, town clerks, and constables are also paid for certain 
services in fees fixed by State law. 

Three Departments of Government. — In our study of 
the town we have seen that its public work is of three quite 
distinct and separate kinds — first, the making of the town 
by-laws by the voters assembled in town meeting ; second, 
the carrying out or executing of the laws by executive 
officers elected at the biennial town meeting ; and, third, the 



TOWN OFFICERS, THEIR POWERS AXD DUTIES. 29 

work of judging criminals and trying civil suits at law, per- 
formed by justices of the peace. These three kinds of work 
are known respectively as legislative or lawmaking, execu- 
tive or law-enforcing, and judicial ; and as we study the gov- 
ernments of city, county, and State, and the government of 
the United States, we shall find these three departments — 
legislative, executive, and judicial — running through them 
all. 

The Town and the State — Thus far we have spoken 
almost entirely of the town as a self-governing political 
unit, whose people make their own laws, and enforce them 
by officers of their own choosing. We have seen, however, 
that the town is a part of the county, and that county 
officers may in some instances interfere in town matters. 
We shall also see that the State government is superior to 
both town and county. Our New York town meetings are 
conducted in strict accordance with a plan laid down by the 
law of the State, while the powers and duties of town 
officers are fixed by State law. The State, while it leaves 
to the people of each town, large freedom in managing 
their own local public affairs, thus provides a uniform plan 
of government for all the towns. 

Paramount Importance of Local Government. — This 
local self-government of town and county under the State 
law, gives at once stability and elasticity to our institutions. 
It permits freedom of action and self-help in every locality, 
and at the same time gives strength and uniformity through- 
out the State. While it is important to have a State gov- 
ernment strong enough to defend the people from public 
enemies, and able to maintain justice, it is supremely im- 
portant that all possible freedom be allowed the people in 
the management of their local affairs, such as is provided in 



30 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

the government of the town meeting. In this meeting the 
people come face to face with questions concerning their 
personal and financial interests. They examine, discuss, 
and decide these questions largely for themselves. Before 
they vote money for public improvements they must know 
where it is coming from, and that ultimately it will come out 
of their own pockets. They learn prudence as they de- 
velop strength in self-government. In the government of 
their own town they tend to acquire the skill and knowledge 
necessary to govern the State and the nation, and if need 
be, to extend our sway over foreign peoples in distant col- 
onies. 

Things to Remember. — In our study of the town and its 
government we should remember : 

1. That the town is a municipal corporation or body 
politic, having many powers of self-government conferred 
upon it by State law ; 

2. That the town is a subdivision of the county for pur- 
poses of county government the supervisor of the town 
being its representative in the county board of super- 
visors ; 

3. That the town by-laws are made by the voters of the 
town assembled in town meeting ; that they are enforced by 
the town's executive officers — supervisor, town clerk, con- 
stable, etc. ; that the justice of the peace is the judicial 
officer of the town ; that these three departments of govern- 
ment — legislative, executive and judicial — extend through- 
out our county, city, State, and national governments ; 

4. That the town meeting, representing the primary as- 
sembly of freemen, is the oldest form of government known 
to the ancestors of the English-speaking people ; appearing 
at different times as the assembly of the clan, the mark, the 



TOWN OFFICERS, THEIR POWERS AND DUTIES. 31 

parish and the manor ; and that this gathering of the free- 
men in mark-mote, vestry meeting, manor court, and town 
meeting, where by majority vote of " yes " and " no," they 
order the public affairs, is our nearest approach to that 
direct democratic government described by President Lin- 
coln as " a government of the people, by the people and for 
the people." 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What officers are elected at a biennial town meeting ? 
For what terms of office ? 

Describe the official ballot voted at town meeting. 

How are the names of candidates for town officers placed 
on the official ballot? 

What officers constitute the town's executive officers ? 
Why are they so called ? 

Of what county law-making body is the town supervisor a 
member ? 

Describe the duties of the town clerk, highway com- 
missioners, overseers of the poor, constables, assessors, 
inspectors of election, town board. 

The justice of the peace is called the town's judicial 
officer. What does that mean ? 

What are some of the advantages of government by town 
meeting? 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

For a comparison of different kinds of township government in 
the United States, including the New York town, see Bryce's Amer- 
ican Commonwealth, Volume I., Chapter XLVIII. On the origin 
of the township, read The Germanic Origin of New England Towns, 
by Herbert B. Adams, in Volume I. of the Johns Hopkins University 
Studies in Historical and Political Science ; also "The Township," 



32 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

in Howard's Local Constitutional History of the United States, in 
the same series. For an account of the transfer of the German mark 
government to English soil, and the development therefrom of the 
English parish and the English manor, see Hannis Taylor's Origin 
and Growth of the English Constitution, Part I ; also Stubbs's Con- 
stitutional History of England, Volume I., Sections 20 to 45. For a 
picturesque description of the mark system of government as it ap- 
pears in modern times in the smaller Swiss Cantons, see Freeman's 
Growth of the English Constitution From the Earliest Times, Chapter I. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Village and its Government. 

As we drive along a road in the country, a sudden turn 
of the road, or an opening in the trees ahead of us, will 
sometimes show us, all at once, as if set in the frame of a 
picture, the roofs and walls of half a hundred cottages, 
rising from the masses of green foliage surrounding them ; 
while from the center of the clustering mass a church spire 
points its sharp finger skyward. As we go nearer, paved 
or wooden sidewalks replace the footpath along the road. 
We see a store or two, a blacksmith's shop, a shoemaker's 
sign, a post office, a schoolhouse and a mill. Perhaps there 
is a factory with rows of staring windows and rumbling 
machinery. Such a spot of busy life, set among green 
fields and surrounded by farms and rural scenery, we call a 
village. 

Such a village may or may not have its own local govern- 
ment distinct from the government of the town in which it 
has grown up. If it is a village with a population of at least 
200 persons, all living within a mile square, 1 its people may, 
under the law of the State, vote to form themselves into a 
distinct municipal corporation, with a village government. 

Why a Separate Village Government. — Why should 
the people of such a village wish a government independent 
of the town government under which they live ? Because 
in a village sidewalks must be built, street lamps must be 

1 Laws of 1899, Chapter 154. 
Hoxie's N. V. 3 ?-? 



34 



GOVERXMEXT OE NEW YORK. 



erected and lighted, waterworks must be established, a fire 
engine must be provided, policemen must be employed and 
paid, and many other common public wants must be sup- 
plied, which are not demanded by the people in the sparsely 
settled farming districts of the town. It would not be just to 
ask the farmers of the town to help pay for the street lamps 
and waterworks of the village ; and it would not be right for 
these farmers to interfere in matters which concern the 
villagers alone. So a village government is set up within 
the town, but separate from it, to do the public business of 
the village. 

The Village Still a Part of the Town. — Such a sepa- 
rate village government does not, however, exempt the 
village people from the operations of the government of the 
town in which the village is situated. The village is still a 
part of the town for town purposes, and the villagers must 
join with the farmers of the town, and with the residents 
of other villages, in attending town meeting, and in electing 
a supervisor, town clerk, and other town officers. 

Plan of Village Government. — As the State law lays 
down the general plan for the government of the town, so it 
lays down the general plan of village government ; l but the 
State leaves to the people of the village, as it leaves to the 
people of the town, the actual management and carrying on 
of their own local government. The State permits the 
people of the village to make local by-laws or ordinances 

1 Article XII., section I, of the New York State Constitution, says: " It 
shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide for the organization of cities 
and incorporated villages, to restrict their power of taxation, assessment, 
borrowing money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit, so as to prevent 
abuses in assessments and in contracting debt by such municipal corpora- 
tions." Under this rule the Legislature has provided a general plan of gov- 
ernment for the villages of the State. 



THE VILLAGE AND ITS GOVERNMENT. 35 

to regulate the conduct of persons within the village, as it 
permits the town meeting to make by-laws for the govern- 
ment of the town. The village, like the town, also elects 
its own village officers to enforce its by-laws. 

The Village Charter. — When the people of a certain 
territory have voted to incorporate themselves into a village 
and have decided upon its boundaries and the details of its 
government, they take the plan to the State Legislature at 
Albany, and ask that it be enacted into law. If the legis- 
lature considers the plan for the proposed village and its 
government satisfactory, it enacts it into law, and it is 
then known as the Village Charter. 1 A village charter, thus 
formed, often occupies many pages in the statute books of 
the State, and it may be as carefully drawn and as elaborate 
a document as the State Constitution. 

Four Classes of Villages — The State law divides vil- 
lages into four classes, as follows : First class, village with 
a population of 5,000 and over; second, population be- 
tween 3,000 and 5,000; third, population between 1,000 
and 3.000; fourth, population less than 1,000. There are 
different State laws governing the villages of each particular 
class, although each separate village, as before said, makes 
its own local by-laws or village ordinances. 

The Village Trustees. — The village by-laws are made 
by a special body of officers elected by the voters of the 
village. These officers are the village board of trustees. 
A village trustee must own a house, land, or other prop- 
erty, on which taxes are paid to carry on the village gov- 
ernment ; and the State law requires every village to have 

1 The word charter comes from the Latin word charta, meaning a leaf of 
paper. The village charter, therefore, means literally the paper on which is 
written the village plan of government. 



36 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

at least two trustees. Villages of the third class may have 
four ; second class, four or six ; first class, six or eight. The 
village trustees have the management of any public prop- 
erty belonging to the village, such as the village lockup, 
fire engines and engine houses, or the village waterworks. 
They also have control of its public money. Village trus- 
tees are elected — one-half the board each year — at the 
Annual Village Election, which takes place on the third 
Tuesday in March. 1 A village trustee serves without pay. 
Powers of the Board of Trustees. — Among the powers 
given by State law to the village board of trustees are the 
following : 

Power to establish a village lockup, pound, clock, scales, and 
market ; to establish village fire limits, name streets, employ a village 
attorney, construct drains and regulate water courses, establish and 
regulate the village water supply, and provide lights ; and the trus- 
tees as a board, have all the powers of separate boards of fire, water, 
light, sewer, and cemetery commissioners, if the village have no such 
separate boards. The trustees may make ordinances for the pres- 
ervation of peace and order in the streets and public places of the 
village, regulate public amusements, regulate the speed of locomotives 
and cars at street crossings, subject to the State railroad law ; regu- 
late the use and sale of fireworks, inflammable materials, and gunpow- 
der, and may issue certain uniform licenses. The board holds an 
annual meeting on the Monday following the annual village election. 
A majority, including the village president, constitute a quorum to 
do business. Laws made by the board are known as village ordi- 
nances. 

The Village President. — The village president is the 
chief executive officer of the village. He is elected at the 

iThis is the date fixed by State law, unless a town meeting in which the 
villagers take part is held on that day. In such case the village election is 
held the day after. Laws of 1897, Chapter 414. 



THE VILLAGE AND ITS GOVERNMENT. 37 

annual village election, participated in by all the voters of 
the village, and he holds office for one year. He acts as 
president of the village board of trustees, and has a vote 
in that body. He is the head of the village police force, 
and he must see that all by-laws and resolutions of the vil- 
lage boards are carried out. He may sue in the name 
of the village for any penalties due it. He serves without 
pa}-, and must be an owner of property paying taxes to the 
village. 

Other Executive Officers. — Other executive officers of 
the village are Treasurer, Clerk, Street Commissioner, Col- 
lector, Assessors, and Village Engineer. The first five are 
usually elected by the voters and serve for one year. ' 
Every village must have a Board of Health of from three to 
seven members, appointed by the trustees. This board 
elects a Health Officer, who must be a physician. The 
board takes measures to do away with public nuisances, such 
as open drains and cesspools, and makes regulations to pre- 
vent the introduction and spread of disease. The village 
treasurer receives and handles the public moneys of the 
village raised by taxation and otherwise. The village 
clerk has charge of the public documents and records of the 
village and of its corporation seal. He also acts as clerk of 
the village board of trustees. The village street com- 
missioner has, under the direction of the village trustees, 
the general care and supervision of the public streets, parks, 
walks, culverts and wells of the village. The compensation 
and power of all these officers are largely fixed by the vil- 
lage board of trustees. 

The Village Police Court. — A Police Justice may be 
elected every four years by the voters of a village. Persons 
1 Laws of 1897, Chap. 414. 



38 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

charged with offenses against the village ordinances are 
brought before the police justice, tried and sentenced. The 
police justice, like a justice of the peace, may also com- 
mand the arrest of criminals ; and he may hold a Court of 
Special Sessions for the trial of misdemeanors committed 
in the village. 

Special Village Elections. — A special village election, 
similar to a town meeting, may be held, whenever a question 
of interest to the villagers is to be decided, or such a question 
may be decided at the regular election. At such elections 
each proposition must be voted upon by ballot, and no per- 
son may vote on a proposition, unless he or his wife owns 
property paying taxes to the village. Such questions as, 
" Shall the village extend its system of waterworks ? " 
" Shall it have a new police station ?" " Shall it put in 
electric lights?" are thus decided by the village taxpayers 
at the village elections. While only the taxpayers of a vil- 
lage may vote upon propositions, any male citizen who has 
been for thirty days a resident of the village, and who is a 
qualified voter at the town meeting, may vote for village of- 
ficers. 

Things to Remember. — The village, like the town, may 
be organized as a municipal corporation, with its village 
government independent of town government ; but the peo- 
ple of such a village are still a part of their town and subject 
to town government. 

The village lawmakers are its president and board of 
trustees. The president is also the chief executive of- 
ficer of the village. The village police justice is its judicial 
officer, though any justice of the peace of the town in 
which a village is located, may exercise his powers in the 
village. 



THE VILLAGE AXD ITS GOVERXM l.\ I. 



39 



Special village elections, similar to town meetings, may 
be held in a village to decide, " yes " or " no," by vote of 
its taxpayers, questions of interest to the village. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Why does a village need a government independent of 
the government of the town in which it is situated ? 

What are village ordinances ? By whom are they made ? 

Tell how a village may obtain a charter form of govern- 
ment. 

What name is given to a member of the village legislative 
body ? 

Name some of the powers of the village board of trus- 
tees. 

What is the chief executive officer in a village govern- 
ment ? 

What judicial officer in the village government corre- 
sponds to the justice of the peace in the town government ? 

Name some purposes for which a special village election 
may be held. Who may vote at such elections ? What 
distinction is made between the voters at a special village 
election, and those who may vote for village officers ? 



CHAPTER V. 

The Government of Cities. 

A city is a village grown large, and all that has been said 
of the need and value of a separate government for the in- 
corporated village, applies with even greater force to the 
city. The village contains a few hundreds or thousands of 
people with common public interests, but the city has a pop- 
ulation of tens or hundreds of thousands, and has highly 
organized and complex public activities. The few hundred 
rods of sidewalk and roads in the village, become miles of . 
sidewalk and paved streets in the city, traversed by horse 
and electric railroads, honeycombed with sewers and gas 
pipes, crossed and lined by thousands of telegraph and tele- 
phone connections, and studded with a forest of street lamps. 
The village needs a constable or two to keep the peace ; but 
the city must have its trained and disciplined police army, 
with detective bureau, station houses, patrol wagons and 
city prison. The village spends a few thousands of dollars 
to bring pure water from near-by springs into its streets and 
houses ; but the city must spend hundreds of thousands, 
perhaps millions, on its system of waterworks. It must 
have costly aqueducts and water stations, and employ a 
corps of trained engineers. The village may have its single 
fire engine and volunteer fire company ; but the city must 
have a paid fire department, with perhaps hundreds of sig- 
nal stations and dozens of engines. A city may have its 
street-cleaning department, its charities department, its park 
40 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 41 

department, its department of law, and its department of 
finance — all under competent and well-paid officers. 

Special Forms of City Government. — To do the vast and 
complicated public work of a city requires a special form of 
government, depending on the size and location of the city. 
But though differing in detail, the general plan of govern- 
ment for cities is much the same throughout the State. 
Each city, like each town and incorporated village, is a 
municipal corporation having its own local legislative, exec- 
utive, and judicial officers ; each makes and enforces its own 
local by-laws or city ordinances, as they are called ; and each 
is dependent upon the State for its particular form of mu- 
nicipal government. 

City Charters. — Up to within a comparatively recent 
time there have been few general State laws for the govern- 
ment of cities in New York ; but each village, as it became 
large enough to feel the need of a city government, has 
framed a special plan of government for itself, and applied 
to the State legislature to have it enacted into law. Such 
a plan of city government, defining the powers and duties 
of city officers, and the municipal rights of its people, as we 
learned in the chapter on the village, is called a charter. 

Ancient Charters. — The practice of giving special char- 
ters to particular cities by the governing power in the state, 
is a very old one ; and many rights and liberties which the 
people now enjoy have come down to us through this cus- 
tom. In very early times the kings of England and other 
European countries had almost unlimited power over the 
people living on the great estates and in the cities of their 
realms. The king parcelled out the land to his chief war- 
riors and nobles, who lived in great fortified castles, and 
were bound to serve him and fight for him, and to furnish 



42 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

soldiers for the king's army in payment for the use of their 
lands. As cities increased in size and men began to turn 
their attention from fighting and farming to trading and 
manufacturing, it became customary for the people of a city, 
when called upon to furnish soldiers for the army of the 
king or their overlord, to pay instead a sum of money. 
This custom gradually grew into the plan of paying an an- 
nual rent to the king or lord. But it sometimes happened 
that the king or lord of a city wanted more money than its 
customary rent. At. such times the city might pay the 
money demanded, on condition that its lord give it some 
privilege or right of self-government, such, for example, as 
the right to have a city court with a judge chosen by the 
people, instead of appointed by the lord. The rights thus 
given at different times to a city were preserved, and to- 
gether formed its charter, which its king or lord could not 
lawfully violate. The great city of London, thus obtained 
in the year HOI from King Henry I. of England the right 
to elect its own chief magistrate and sheriff. 

Origin of the English Boroughs. — At its beginning the 
English city was little more than an ordinary English town- 
ship more thickly populated than usual. Such towns grew 
up at the mouths of rivers, on bays or arms of the sea, or 
at the meeting of highways where the people gathered for 
manufacture or trade. As such a town increased in popula- 
tion, and its inhabitants became wealthy, a high and thick 
stone wall, with heavy gates and towers that could be de- 
fended against bands of robbers or other enemies, took the 
place of the original hedge or protecting " tun." The town 
was now called a " burh " or borough, which means a fortified 
place. Within the walled borough, government went on 
much as in the ordinary town. The free townspeople or 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 43 

"burghers" met in "borough mote "( borough meeting), 
chose a head man or " borough reeve," and made by-laws 
for the government of the borough. Sometimes the bor- 
ough was composed of several closely united towns or par- 
ishes, in which case its government had features somewhat 
like the government of the English shire or county, the 
borough having its " shire reeve," or sheriff, appointed by 
the king. The free burghers united in guilds or companies 
of weavers, dyers, armorers, gold beaters, merchants, etc. ; 
and each guild, as a rule, occupied a different part of the 
town. , Each sent its own head man, or " aeldorman " (alder- 
man), chosen by its members to a common city meeting 
or council ; though in some cities the merchant guild seems 
to have been the governing body. When the people of a 
borough had purchased or otherwise received the right of 
self-government, a Mayor chosen by the people took the 
place of the sheriff formerly appointed by the king, and the 
borough community became a municipal corporation, quite 
like our modern cities, with full power to regulate its own local 
affairs and to make by-laws for its own local government. 1 

City Government in the Netherlands. — In much the 
same way as in England, city government grew up in the 
Netherlands, from which came the Dutch, who first settled 
Xew York. Dutch towns grew into walled cities having 
charters purchased from their counts or lords, giving the 
townspeople the right to levy their own taxes, elect their 
own magistrates, and make their own laws. 2 The cities of 

1 Hannis Taylor, Origin and Growth of the English Constitution. 

!l The oldest known city charter is dated A. D. 1217, and may still be seen 
in the town hall in Middleburg. It was given by William I., Count of 
Holland, and Joanna, Countess of Flanders, and declares that "To all 
Middleburgers one kind of law is granted." 



44 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

New Netherland, as New York was called, were governed 
in much the same manner, though not at first with the same 
popular liberty, as the cities of Holland. In New Amster- 
dam (the Dutch name given to the present city of New York) 
there were elected as early as 1652, a schout, two burgo- 
masters, and five schepens, to act as a local court, and to per- 
form some of the functions of a legislative body. 1 Later, 
the English substituted a mayor and a Board of Aldermen 
for the Dutch schout, burgomasters and schepens. 

Three Classes of Cities. — Cities of New York are now 

1 The word " schout," or " schoudt," is said to be an abbreviation of the 
Dutch " schuld-rechter," or righter of crimes. The schout, both in Holland 
and in New Netherland, performed duties somewhat analogous to those of 
our modern sheriff, and district attorney. In the draft of conditions offered 
in 1656 by the city of Amsterdam to emigrants to New Netherland, the gov- 
ernment of the city of New Amsterdam (now New York) was to be under 
a schout, "as the head of justice," to be appointed by the West India Com- 
pany ; three burgomasters to be appointed by the common burghers of the 
city " from the honestest and fittest " ; and five or seven schepens, to be se- 
lected by the Director General and Council of New Netherland, from among 
double the number proposed by the burghers. The schepens were em- 
powered to give final judgment in suits for all sums under one hundi-ed 
guilders, but in cases where the amount in dispute exceeded this sum, there 
might be an appeal from the judgment of the schepens to the Director 
General and Council. The schepens could also pronounce sentence in all 
criminal cases, subject to this right of appeal. In a charter granted in 1674 
to New Orange (now Albany), the schout, burgomasters and schepens, be- 
sides acting as a local court, were empowered to enact, and, with the appro- 
bation of the governor, " to publish and affix statutes, ordinances, and 
plackards for the peace, quiet and advantage of the city," " provided the 
same do not in anywise conflict, but agree as much as possible, with the laws 
and statutes of the Fatherland." It thus appears that these officers, in some 
instances, possessed legislative as well as judicial powers. See Broadhead's 
History of the State of Nezv York ; Holland Documents, Volume I., page 621 ; 
The Documentary History of A T ew York, Volume I., Part XXL, " Papers 
Relating to the City of New York," pages 598, etc. See also Elting's Dutch 
Village Communities on the Hudson River. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 45 

divided into three classes. Cities of the first class have a 
population of 250,000 and over; second class, a population 
between 250,000 and 50,000; while cities of the third class 
include all others. 1 The following outline of government 
applies generally to all cities of the State. 

City Government — The Board of Aldermen. — A city 
is usually divided for convenience in administering the laws, 
into local subdivisions called Wards ; and each ward may 
send its own representative, alderman, or councilman, to 
the Board of Aldermen or Common Council, which is the 
city's law making or legislative body. Sometimes, however, 
the entire board of aldermen or common council is elected 
on one general ballot, by the voters of the entire city. Some 
cities elect an alderman or councilman from each ward 
with a certain number of aldermen-at-large, the latter being 
voted for by the voters of the entire city. Aldermen, in 
common with all elective city officers (except in cities of the 
third class) are elected at the time of the General State 
Election of an odd-numbered year, 2 and they hold office for 

1 The forty cities of New York are classified according to the last enumera- 
tion, as follows : 

First class : New York, Buffalo. 

Second class: Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, Troy, Utica. 

Third class : Amsterdam, Auburn, Binghamton, Cohoes, Corning, Dun- 
kirk, Elmira, Geneva, Gloversville, Hornellsville, Hudson, Ithaca, Jamestown, 
Johnstown, Kingston, Little Falls, Lockport, Middletown, Mount Vernon, 
Newburgh, New Rochelle, Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Ogdensburgh, 
Olean, Oswego, Poughkeepsie, Renesselaer, Rome, Schenectady, Watertown, 
Yonkers, Watervliet. 

* Laws of 1898, Chapter 182. State officials are elected in the even-num- 
bered years. The purpose of the law requiring different dates for State and 
city elections, is to keep State and city politics independent of each other; so 
that a citizen may vote freely and intelligently in a city election without 
being influenced by his desire to support a particular party in the State. 



46 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

two years. The powers exercised by the board of alder- 
men or common council are somewhat similar to those of 
the board of trustees in the village, and to the town meet- 
ing in the town. The board of aldermen may make by- 
laws or ordinances for the general local government of the 
city, including its streets, sewers, docks and public build- 
ings. They may grant local franchises or licenses for the 
regulation of particular trades and kinds of business. They 
may fix the tax rate for local purposes, not exceeding the 
limits fixed by State law, and they may vote money from 
the city treasury for the conduct of the public business. 

The Mayor. — The mayor is the city's chief executive 
officer. He is elected by the voters of the entire city. It is 
his duty to enforce the by-laws or ordinances enacted by the 
board of aldermen, and to preserve the peace of the city. 
He has control of the city's police force, and he may call 
out any regiment of State militia located in the city, to sup- 
press riots or other disorders. In some cities the mayor is a 
member of the common council and presides at its meet- 
ings, and in all cities the mayor has what is called a Veto 
over acts or ordinances passed by the common council. 
" Veto " comes from the Latin and means " to forbid " ; and 
the mayor exercises his veto by forbidding or failing to 
approve of a measure passed by the common council. An 
act of the council " vetoed " by the mayor fails to become 
law, unless the council repasses it by a two-thirds affirma- 
tive vote. This is called " passing a bill over the mayor's 
veto." Such acts become the law without the mayor's con- 
sent. The mayor may appoint and remove many officials 
and heads of departments in the city government, but in 
exercising this power he is subject to the State " Civil 
Service laws," which declare that all appointments and 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 47 

promotions in the civil service (that is, in the public service 
outside the army and navy), " shall be made according 
to merit and fitness, to be ascertained so far as practicable, 
by examinations, which so far as practicable shall be com- 
petitive." l 

Other Executive Officers of the City. — Associated with 
the mayor in the executive work of the city, some appointed 
and some elected by the people, are such officers as City 
Treasurer, Assessors, Tax Collectors, City Auditors, City 
Attorney or Corporation Counsel, Street Commissioners, 
Superintendent of Schools, Park Commissioners, Civil Serv- 
ice Commissioners, etc., each with his special part of the 
public service to superintend or perform. 

City Courts. — Each city in the State has its own local 
court or courts for the trial of criminals and civil suits at law. 
These courts are described in the chapter on the State Judi- 
ciary Department. 

Special Laws Affecting Cities. — To give the people of 
a city an opportunity to express themselves freely for or 
against measures proposed by the State lawmakers, which 
apply specially to their city, there was placed in the last 
revision (1894) °f the State Constitution, a section 2 which 
provides that the legislature may not enact a special law 
applying to a particular city, without first sending a copy 
of the proposed law to the city, and giving the people a 
chance to be heard for or against it. In cities of the first 
class, the mayor — in others the mayor and common coun- 
cil — may accept or reject such a proposed law, and return 
it within fifteen days to the legislature, or to the governor 
of the State if the legislature has adjourned. A proposed 

York State Constitution, Article V., Section 9. 
5 New York State Constitution, Article XII., Section 2. 



48 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

law thus rejected by a city, or not returned within the speci- 
fied fifteen days, may be passed by the legislature, if in 
session, and signed by the governor, as though it had been 
accepted by the city. If, however, the legislature adjourn 
before the expiration of the fifteen days, and the proposed 
law is returned within that time as accepted by the city, 
the governor may act upon it as in the case of other pro- 
posed laws passed by the legislature ; but if after the 
adjournment of the legislature the proposed law is not re- 
turned, or is returned as rejected, it fails to become a law. 

Limitation of City Indebtedness. — To protect the prop- 
erty owners from a wasteful and careless expenditure of the 
public money, the State Constitution declares that no city, 
county, town, or village, may incur any indebtedness except 
for strictly public or municipal purposes. No county or 
city may go into debt in excess of ten per cent, of the 
assessed valuation of the houses and lands which pay taxes 
within its borders ; and the amount to be raised by tax for 
county or city purposes in any county containing a city of 
over 100,000 inhabitants, or in any such city, cannot in any 
one year exceed two per cent, of the assessed valuation of 
its taxable property, aside from the amount to be raised 
for paying the principal and interest on its existing debt. 
Whenever the boundaries of a city become the same as 
those of a county, the county can go no further into debt, 
but 'the existing county debt is not included as a part of 
the city debt. 1 

Government in Cities of the Second Class. — Govern- 
ment in cities of the second class is carried on by a common 
council, mayor, and the following departments : Depart- 
ment of Finance, Department of Public Works, Department 

1 New York State Constitution, Article VIII., Section 10. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 49 

of Public Safety, Department of Public Instruction, Depart 
ment of Assessment and Taxation, Department of Charities 
and Correction, Judiciary Department, and Department of 
Law. 1 

The common council has authority to " enact any ordi- 
nance not inconsistent with the laws of the State for the 
government of the city and the management of its business, 
for the preservation of good order, peace and health, for the 
safety and welfare of its inhabitants and the protection and 
security of their property." The mayor must call the heads 
of the different departments together for consultation on 
the affairs of the city at least twelve times a year. Two 
Judges of the City Court are elected by the people for terms 
of six years each, and the mayor appoints City Marshals, 
not to exceed five, having the powers and duties of con- 
stables. 

SUMMARY. 

A city is a municipal corporation, created by State law, 
and provided with a special form of government fixed by 
the city charter. 

The city charter is granted by the State legislature, and 
may be amended or abolished at any time by that body. 

Charters were granted to the early cities in England by 
the king or other feudal lord of the city, usually in return 
for money payments made by the city. In this way many 
rights of self-government now enjoyed by the English- 

1 The laws of 1900 add to these a Board of Estimate and Apportionment, 
consisting of the mayor, corporation counsel, comptroller, president of the 
common council, and the city engineer ; also a Board of Contract and Supply, 
composed of the mayor, comptroller, commissioner of public works, corpora- 
tion counsel, and city engineer. 
Hoxie's N. V. 4 



5 o GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

speaking peoples, were gradually purchased by the early 
English cities. The same practice prevailed among the 
early cities of the Netherlands. 

The board of aldermen or common council constitutes 
the city's legislative department. The mayor is the city's 
chief executive officer. It is the duty of the mayor to en- 
force the law within his city, and he has a veto power over 
ordinances passed by the city's legislative body. The 
mayor's power of appointment is limited by the State civil 
service law. Each city has its special city court or courts, 
with powers and duties fixed by the city charter. 

Special State laws limit the power of a city to go into 
debt. No law applying specially to any particular city may 
be enacted by the State legislature, unless submitted to the 
common council or mayor of the city for acceptance or 
rejection by the city. But such rejection of a proposed law 
may not necessarily prevent the legislature from enacting it. 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is a city charter ? What power may grant, amend, 
or abolish such a charter ? 

Describe the origin of the English borough. 

How did the early English cities obtain charters ? 

What classification of cities exists in New York State ? 

Describe the legislative body of a city in this State ? 
How are its' members chosen ? 

What is a city ordinance ? 

Who is the city's chief executive officer ? What power 
has he in the making of city ordinances ? . 

What State law limits a mayor's power to appoint officers 
in the city government ? 



THE GOVERNMENT OF CITIES. 51 

What limit is there to the power of a city to go into 
debt? 

How are the people of a city given opportunity to be 
heard for or against laws proposed in the State legislature., 
which apply specially to their city ? 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

For an account of the development of the English borough, see 
Hannis Taylor's Origin and Growth of the English Constitution, Book 
III.; also Stubbs's Constitutional History of England, Volume I., Sec- 
tions 20 to 45. Read also "The English Towns," Section IV., of 
Chapter IV., Green's Short History of the English People. For a gen- 
eral account of American city governments, see Bryce's American 
Commonwealth, Volume I., Chapters L. and LI. 



CITY OF NEW YORK. 

BOEOUGnS AND 

DISTRICTS FOR HOME RULE AND r 

LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS. K> 



^ M 



<V 



£ 



4? 



* w 




CHAPTER VI. 
Greater New York. 

At the mouth of the Hudson River, facing the glittering 
waters of New York Bay, through whose narrow strait the 
ships of all nations carry on a mighty commerce between 
the old world and the new, stands the city known as Greater 
New York. Four counties of the State — New York, Kings, 
Queens, and Richmond — are included within its borders ; and 
it unites under a single city government the former cities of 
New York, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, and the teeming 
villages on Staten Island, and in Kings and Queens coun- 
ties, outside the former Brooklyn and Long Island City. 1 
The population of Greater New York is about three and 
one-half millions, making it the second city in size on the 
globe, and by far the largest city on the American conti- 
nent. It contains considerably more people than the com- 
bined States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecti- 
cut, Rhode Island and Delaware, with the District of 
Columbia and Wyoming thrown in for good measure. 

This mighty, city — New York — was created by the State 
legislature of 1897, its people having previously expressed 
themselves by ballot taken at a regular election, as in favor 
of uniting their separate governments in a single munici- 
pality. The legislature then enacted a charter for the 
great city, which is now entitled under the law to sixty of 

1 Three towns of the former Queens County have been erected by the 
legislature into the County of Nassau. 
54 



GREATER NEW YORK'. 



55 



the one hundred fifty assemblymen of the State, and to 
twenty-one l of the fifty State senators. This teeming pop- 
ulation, equal in number to nearly half the population of the 
State, and to more than three quarters of the population of 
the United States when Washington was made President, 
and paying more than sixty per cent, of the direct taxes 
levied for State purposes, 2 is, however, under the law of the 
State, as powerless to govern itself as the smallest town or 
incorporated village. Its vast public activities are confined 
rigidly within its charter fixed by the State, and it cannot 
lay out a new park, widen an old street, or construct a pub- 
lic speedway, without the authority of the State legislature. 
The Government of New York. — New York, like the 
other municipal corporations of the State, has its own local 
legislative, executive, and judiciary departments of govern- 
ment, with powers and duties fixed by the city charter. 
For the purpose of administering its local government, the 
city is divided into five Boroughs. These are the Boroughs 
of Manhattan and The Bronx, embracing the former city of 
New York, and the present New York county ; 3 the Bor- 
ough of Brooklyn, including Kings county and the former 
city of Brooklyn ; the Borough of Queens, including the 

1 The first senate district of the State includes Suffolk, as well as Rich- 
mond county. 

2 The tax levy fixed by the Legislature for the year beginning October I, 
1899, for the whole State was #12,642,228. Of this amount New York paid 
S7.S77JI9- 

3 The Borough of Manhattan includes Manhattan Island, Governor's Island, 
Bedlow's Island, Ellis Island, the Oyster Islands, Blackwell's Island, Ran- 
dall's Island, and Ward's Island. The Borough of the Bronx includes that 
portion of the city of New York lying northerly or easterly of the Borough 
of Manhattan between the Hudson River and the East River or Long Island 
Sound, including the several islands. 




^ ^ 2*S fi lilf 



5 8 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

present Queens county ; and the Borough of Richmond, 
having the boundaries of the present Richmond county. 

The Board of Aldermen. — New York's local legislative 
body is the Board of Aldermen. This board consists of 
seventy-three aldermen, elected from as many aldermanic 
districts; a president elected by the people of the whole 
city at the time of the election of the mayor and for the 
same term of office ; and five borough presidents. Each 
assembly district in the city is an aldermanic district, except 
as otherwise provided in the charter. Manhattan with 
thirty-four assembly districts, elects thirty -seven aldermen ; l 
Brooklyn with twenty-one districts, elects twenty-two alder- 
men ; 2 Queens with two districts, elects four aldermen ; The 
Bronx, containing the annexed district, the thirty-fifth as- 
sembly district, and a part of the thirty -fourth, elects seven 
aldermen ; and Richmond with one assembly district, elects 
three aldermen. The aldermen are elected by the voters of 
their respective aldermanic districts at the general elections 
in the odd-numbered years. They hold office two years, 
and receive an annual salary of $1,000 each. The alder- 
men appoint a clerk of the board, who is also the city 
clerk. He serves six years at an annual salary of $7,000. 
The president of the board of aldermen is the acting mayor 
of New York during the absence or disability of the mayor. 
He receives an annual salary of $5,000. A majority of the 
board constitutes a quorum for the purpose of doing busi- 
ness. 



1 The twenty-first, twenty-third and thirty-first assembly districts are divided 
into two aldermanic districts each ; and that part of the thirty-fourth lying 
within Manhattan constitutes a single aldermanic district. 

2 The seventh assembly district of Kings county is divided into two alder- 
manic districts. 



GREATER NEW YORK. 59 

Powers of the Board of Aldermen. — The board of alder- 
men sits in the Borough of Manhattan, and it must hold at 
least one meeting a month, except during the months of 
August and September. The board has power to pass 
local by-laws or ordinances for the city upon subjects enu- 
merated in the charter. Ordinances are passed by a majority 
of all the voting members of the board ; but no ordinance 
involving the spending of the public money, the granting 
of a franchise, or the making of a specific public improve- 
ment may be passed except by unanimous vote of the board, 
until at least five days after an abstract of its provisions has 
appeared in the official paper known as the " City Record." 
This prevents undue haste and gives the people an opportu- 
nity to be heard. The board has power to make and enforce 
local police, health, park, fire, and building' regulations, not 
inconsistent with the charter, nor contrary to the laws of 
the State and of the United States. The board may make 
by-laws, among other things for : 

The establishment and regulation of public markets, parks, streets, 
boulevards, bridges, docks, waterworks, schoolhouses, and other pub- 
lic buildings of the city ; for the inspection and sealing of weights 
and measures ; the inspection, weighing and measuring of coal, 
wood, hay, etc. ; for the numbering of houses and lots ; for regu- 
lating public cries, advertising noises, steam whistles, etc. ; regulating 
the use of guns, pistols, fireworks, etc. ; regulating places of public 
amusement, the construction and use of hydrants, cisterns, sewers, 
pumps, etc.; regulating partition walls and fences; for licensing 
truckmen, hackmen, expressmen, pawnbrokers, and others; for the 
suppression of vice and immorality, and the prohibition of gambling 
houses. The board may also grant franchises for street railroads and 
ferries; restrict the height of buildings; change ward boundaries; 
and it may on recommendation of the board of estimate and appor- 
tionment, fix generally the salary or compensation of any officer or 
person paid out of the city treasury, except day laborers, teachers, 



60 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

examiners and members of the supervising staff of the department of 
education. It may reduce salaries recommended by the board 
of estimate and apportionment, subject, however, to the veto power 
of the mayor. The board may, within the limits fixed by State law, 
authorize the city to issue its bonds for needed public improvements. 

The Mayor. — The mayor is the executive head of the 
city. He is chosen at the general elections in the odd- 
numbered years, for a term of two years, by the voters of 
the entire city. He receives an annual salary of $15,000. 
The mayor must be vigilant and active in enforcing the city 
ordinances and the laws of the State. He must keep him- 
self informed of the doings of the different departments of 
the city government, and once a year he must communicate 
in a written message to the board of aldermen a general 
statement of the finances, government and improvements 
of the city, recommending such measures as he deems ex- 
pedient. The mayor appoints in most instances the heads 
of the different departments in the city government, and he 
has power to remove generally any city official holding 
office by appointment of the mayor. 1 The mayor himself 
may be removed from office by the governor of the State. 

Veto Power of the Mayor. — All by-laws or ordinances 
passed by the board of aldermen must be sent to the mayor 
for his approval or rejection. If the mayor approve a pro- 
posed ordinance, he must sign it and return it within ten 
days after receiving it to the board of aldermen or to the 
board at its next meeting. 2 If the mayor disapprove a 

1 The exceptions are members of the board of education, the aqueduct 
commissioners, the trustees of the College of the City of New York, the 
trustees of certain hospitals, and judicial officers whose removal is provided for 
by the constitution. 

2 A proposed ordinance involving the appropriation of public money, the 
granting of a franchise, or the making of a specific improvement, must be 



GREATER NEW YORK'. 61 

proposed ordinance he must return it within the time speci- 
fied with his written objections. This is the mayor's veto. 
The board of aldermen, after ten days and within fifteen 
days after receiving the veto, may repass the proposed ordi- 
nance over the mayor's veto by an affirmative vote of at 
least two thirds of the members ; except that a proposed 
ordinance involving the expenditure of public money, the 
creation of a debt, or the laying of an assessment may be 
passed over the mayor's veto only by an affirmative vote of 
three fourths of the members. But the mayor's veto of a pro- 
posed ordinance involving the granting of a franchise is final. 

City Administrative Departments. — Associated with the 
mayor in the executive government of the city, are fifteen 
departments, with heads in nearly every instance appointed 
by him. 1 These are the department of finance, law 
department, police department, department of water supply, 
gas and electricity, department of street cleaning, department 
of bridges, department of parks, department of public 
charities, department of correction, fire department, depart- 
ment of docks and ferries, department of taxes and assess- 
ments, department of education, health department, and 
tenement house department. Each of these departments is 
headed by one or more commissioners. 

The Department of Finance. — Very important among 
the administrative departments is the department of finance, 
headed by the comptroller, who is elected at the time of the 
election of the mayor, by the voters of the entire city. The 

returned within the time specified after an abstract of its provisions has been 
published in the " City Record." 

1 The exceptions are the head of the department of finance, and the head 
of the department of education, who are elected — the former by the people, 
the latter by the members of the board of education. 



62 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

comptroller serves two years at an annual salary of $15,000. 
The comptroller has general charge of the financial affairs of 
the city, and the accounts of its various departments are subject 
to his inspection and revision. The department of finance in- 
cludes five bureaus — one for the collection of interests, rents 
and moneys due from sales ; one for the collection of taxes ; 
one for the collection of arrears; one for the auditing of city 
accounts ; and one for the reception of all moneys into the city 
treasury, and the paying out of the same. The last-named 
bureau is in charge of the city treasurer or chamberlain, 
appointed by the mayor at an annual salary of $12,000.* 

The Board of Estimate and Apportionment. — The mayor, 
comptroller, president of the board of aldermen, and the five 
borough presidents, constitute a board of estimate and 
apportionment. It is the duty of this board once a year to 
make up a budget or statement of the estimated expenses of the 
city as required by the different departments. This budget 
is submitted to the board of aldermen, and when passed 
upon by that body it becomes the legal amount to be raised 
within the city for purposes of local government. In the 
board of estimate and apportionment, the mayor, comp- 
troller, and president of the board of aldermen have three 
votes each, the president of the Borough of Manhattan and 
the president of the Borough of Brooklyn two votes each, 
and the presidents of the Boroughs of The Bronx, Queens, 
and Richmond, one vote each. 

The Law Department. — The head of the city's law 
department is the corporation counsel, appointed by the 
mayor, at an annual salary of $15,000. He has charge of 
the official law business of the city and its various depart- 
ments, and he is the legal adviser of the city government. 

1 The city chamberlain also acts as treasurer of New York county. 



GREATER NEW YORK. 63 

The Police Department.— The head of the police depart- 
ment is the police commissioner, appointed by the mayor 
fur a term of five years at an annual salary of $7,500. The 
police commissioner is chief of police. He appoints two 
deputy chiefs at salaries of $4,000 each, fifteen inspectors at 
salaries of $3,500 each, and an army of policemen. 

Borough Officers.— At the time of the election of the 
mayor the voters of each borough of New York elect a 
borough president. He holds office for two years, and 
receives an annual salary of $7,500 in the Boroughs of Man- 
hattan, Brooklyn, and The Bronx, and $5,000 in Queens and 
Richmond. Each borough president has general charge 
and oversight of the public streets, sewers, bridges, tunnels, 
and buildings * within his borough. He looks after the con- 
struction of new streets, regulates the construction and lay- 
ing of surface railroads, looks after the filling in and fencing 
of vacant lots, and the removal of encumbrances. He may 
appoint, and at pleasure remove a commissioner of public 
works and a' superintendent of buildings for his borough. 
In Queens and Richmond the borough presidents also have 
charge of street cleaning. 

Boards of Local Improvements. — For purposes of home 
rule and local improvements, the city is divided into twenty- 
five districts of local improvements corresponding quite gen- 
erally in size and extent to the senate districts. 2 In each 

1 Except schoolhouses, almshouses, penitentiaries, fire and police stations. 

2 The districts of local improvements are as follows : 1, Borough of Rich- 
mond ; 2, wards I and 2, Borough of Queens ; 3, wards 3, 4 and 5, Borough 
of Queens; 4, third senate district; 5, fourth senate district; 6, wards 8, 30, 
and 31, Borough of Brooklyn ; 7, wards 10 and 12, Brooklyn; 8, sixth senate 
district; 9, seventh senate district; 10, eighth senate district; II, ninth senate 
district; 12, tenth senate district; 13, eleventh senate district; 14, twelfth 
senate district; 15, thirteenth senate district; 16, fourteenth senate district ; 



64 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

district of local improvements there is a board of local 
improvements, known as the " local board." Each local board 
is composed of members of the board of aldermen within 
the district, and each is presided over by the borough presi- 
dent of the borough in which the board is located. A local 
board has power to open streets, establish parks, and con- 
struct tunnels and bridges where the adjoining property 
bears a part of the expense ; but plans for such improve- 
ments must be first approved by the borough president, and 
by the board of estimate and apportionment, 1 and, in a case 
where the charge imposed upon the whole city is more than 
$500,000, by the board of aldermen also. 

Other Departments. — The department of water supply, 
gas and electricity, the department of street cleaning, and 
the department of bridges are headed respectively by the 
commissioner of water supply, gas and electricity, the com- 
missioner of street cleaning, and the commissioner of bridges, 
each appointed by the mayor, and each receiving an annual 
salary of $7,500. Each commissioner administers his depart- 
ment under regulations imposed by the board of aldermen. 
The department of parks is headed by the park board, com- 
posed of three commissioners of parks, appointed by the 
mayor at an annual salary of $5,000 each. Other heads of 
departments appointed by the mayor are the commissioner 
of public charities, salary, $7,500; the commissioner of cor- 

17, fifteenth senate district; 18, sixteenth senate district; 19, fifteenth and 
seventeenth assembly districts, Manhattan; 20, eighteenth senate district; 21, 
nineteenth and twenty-first assembly districts, Manhattan ; 22, thirty-first and 
twenty-third assembly districts, Manhattan ; 23, twentieth and part of the 
twenty-first senate districts; 24, part of twenty-first senate district; 25, part of 
the twenty-second senate district. 

1 Proposed improvements costing less than $2,000 need not be submitted to 
the board of estimate and apportionment. 



GREATER NEW YORK. 65 

rection, salary, $7,500; the fire commissioner, salary, $7,500; 
the commissioner of docks, salary, $6,000; five commission- 
ers of taxes and assessments, salary, $7,000, (the president 
receiving $8,000) ; a tenement house commissioner, salary, 
S;,5oo. 

Department of Education. — The mayor appoints the 
Board of Education, consisting of forty-six members — 
twenty-two from Manhattan, fourteen from Brooklyn, four 
from The Bronx, four from Queens, and two from Richmond. 
The members are appointed for terms of five years each, 
and they serve without pay. The board has the manage- 
ment and control of the public schools of the city ; appoints 
a city superintendent of schools, eight associate superintend- 
ents, and twenty-six district superintendents. The board 
has power to divide the city into forty-six local school 
board districts, corresponding to the forty-six members ; 
and each borough president appoints five members of a 
local school board for each district within his borough. 
These, with the member of the board of education living in 
the district, and the district superintendent, constitute a 
local school board for the district. 

Department of Health. — The commissioner of health, 
appointed by the mayor, at a salary of $7,500, the police 
commissioner, and the health officer of the port constitute the 
board of health. This department has authority to enforce 
the laws for the preservation of life and health throughout 
the city, and over the waters within its jurisdiction. 

County Government in the City of New York. — Each 
county included within the borders of New York has its 
separate county government, independent of the govern- 
ment of the city, and in many respects the same as county 
government in other parts of the State. There are, how- 



66 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

ever, no town governments in Greater New York, and con- 
sequently no such officers as town supervisors or county 
boards of supervisors. Each county has, however, its 
sheriff, county clerk, district attorney, and other county 
officers, and, except in New York county, its county court. 

Courts in New York — The Supreme Court. — The first 
judicial department and the first judicial district of the State 
have the same boundaries as New York county ; while the 
Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Richmond are included 
in the second judicial department and the second judicial 
district. In all boroughs of the city the Supreme Court and 
its appellate division have jurisdiction, as in other parts of 
the State ; and special laws largely increase the compensa- 
tion of supreme court judges in Manhattan and Brooklyn. 

County Courts in New York. — Kings, Queens, and Rich- 
mond counties have each a county court and a surrogate's 
court, with powers and duties quite similar to such courts 
in other parts of the State. Kings county elects two county 
judges. New York county has no county court, but elects 
two surrogates for terms of fourteen years each, at annual 
salaries of $15,000 each. 

The City Court. — Two courts in New York county take 
the place of a regular county court. These are the City 
Court, and the Court of General Sessions ; and both have 
jurisdiction in New York county only. Seven judges of 
the city court are elected for terms of ten years each at 
annual salaries of $10,000 each. The city court hears and 
determines civil suits in which the amount sued for does not 
exceed $2,000. Appeals from its decisions are to the ap- 
pellate division of the supreme court. 

The Court of General Sessions. — The court of general 
sessions is mainly a criminal court. It has jurisdiction to 



GREATER NEW YORK. 67 

try all crimes cognizable within the county, including those 
punishable with death. It is in four parts, its judges being 
the Recorder, the City Judge, and three Justices of Sessions, 
all elected by the voters for terms of fourteen years each, 
at annual salaries of $12,000 each. A grand jury is drawn 
for this court. All the foregoing are courts of record. 

Inferior Courts in New York. — Two inferior courts not 
of .record have jurisdiction throughout the entire city. These 
are the Court of Special Sessions, and the Municipal Court 
of the City of New York. In both these courts cases are 
tried by the judges without the aid of a jury. 

Court of Special Sessions. — For the purpose of admin- 
istering criminal justice, the city is divided into two divi- 
sions. The first embraces the boroughs of Manhattan and 
The Bronx, the second the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, 
and Richmond. Five judges of a Court of Special Ses- 
sions are appointed by the mayor in the first district and 
five in the second, for the purpose of trying cases of mis- 
demeanors committed in the city and not brought up on in- 
dictment or presentment of a grand jury, and some other 
offenses. The judges of the Court of Special Sessions hold 
office for terms of ten years each, at annual salaries of $9,000 
in the first division and $6,000 in the second. Three judges 
sitting together constitute the court, and the concurrence 
of two is necessary to a decision. 

City Magistrates. — Twelve city magistrates are appointed 
by the mayor, in the first division, for terms of ten years 
each ; and fifteen magistrates are elected by the voters in 
the second division, for terms of six years each. In each 
division the magistrates so appointed or elected, constitute 
a Board of Magistrates for the division. The first division 
contains seven districts, and the second thirteen, of which 



68 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

eight are in Brooklyn, three in Queens, and two in Rich- 
mond. In most of these districts a magistrate is in daily 
attendance upon a magistrate's court for the hearing and 
trial of petty offenses, and the commitment of accused per- 
sons. The salaries of the magistrates are $7,000 in the first 
division, $6,000 in Brooklyn, and $5,000 in Queens and 
Richmond. 

The Municipal Court The lowest court of civil juris- 
diction in Greater New York is the Municipal Court of the 
City of New York. For the purpose of administering jus- 
tice through this court the city is divided into twenty-three 
districts as follows : borough of The Bronx two districts, 
Manhattan eleven, Brooklyn five, Queens three, Richmond 
two. In each district a session of the municipal court is 
presided over by a justice, elected by the voters of his dis- 
trict, for a term of ten years, at an annual salary of $6,000 
in Manhattan, Bronx, and Brooklyn, and of $5,000 in 
Queens and Richmond. The municipal court has general 
jurisdiction in civil suits where the amount sued for does 
not exceed $500. 

SUMMARY. 

The city of New York includes within its borders the 
counties of New York, Kings, Queens, and Richmond, and 
the former cities of New York, Brooklyn, and Long Island 
City. 

For administrative purposes the city is divided into five 
boroughs : Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and 
Richmond. 

The board of aldermen composed of seventy -three mem- 
bers elected from as many districts, a president elected by 



GREATER NEW YORK. 69 

the voters of the entire city, and the five borough presidents, 
constitute the chief branch of the city's legislative department. 

The mayor is the head of the city's executive depart- 
ment, and has a veto power over ordinances enacted by 
the board of aldermen. 

The local courts of the city include a city court and a 
court of general sessions, for New York county, and a 
court of special sessions and a municipal court for the 
whole city. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Name and describe the boroughs of New York. 

Describe the board of aldermen and its powers. 

Describe the board of estimate and apportionment. 

What officer is at the head of the city's finance depart- 
ment ? May he be removed from office ? If so, in what 
manner ? What are the duties of the city chamberlain ? 

Name six administrative departments included in the city 
government. Describe the boards of local improvements, 
their powers and duties. 

Name two duties of a borough president. How is he 
placed in office ? 

What are the duties of the corporation counsel ? How 
do his duties differ from the duties of the district attorney 
of New York county ? 

What judicial department is coextensive with the bound- 
aries of the former New York? What State courts are 
maintained in this department ? What courts take the 
place of a county court in New York county ? Which of 
these courts is a court of civil jurisdiction only? What 
court is presided over by the recorder ? 



CHAPTER VII. 
The County. 

Moke than two thirds of the people of New York 
live in cities ; the remainder live in towns ; but every 
person, whether living in city or town, lives in a county. 
What is a county ? If we look on a large map of New 
York we see that it is cut up into sixty-one coun- 
ties. Every county l is, in turn, composed of towns, and 
many contain cities and villages, the people of the different 
towns, cities, and villages being united under a county gov- 
ernment. We have seen the incorporated village, with its 
separate village government, lying within the town, the 
village being at the same time a part of the town and 
the villagers subject to town laws. In the same way a 
town or city lies within its county, the people of city and 
town being subject to county laws, as well as to their own 
town and city laws. 

Why We Have County Government. — Why do we have 
counties and county government ? First, because some 
kinds of public work are most effectively and conveniently 
carried on by the people of several towns and villages united 
in a county government. But there are other reasons for 
the existence of counties than mere convenience. We have 
counties, because, like the town and the town meeting, they 

1 Except New York, Kings, Queens, and Richmond, which lie within the 
city of New York. 
70 



71 



OXEIDA COUNTY, 

NEW YOEK. 



SCALE OF MILES 




REFERENCE 

County Boundary 

Town Boundaries 

Railroads 

Canals 

Cities appear in this type IT1CA 
Towns " VERNON 

\'ill<ujis ' Clinton 



THE COUNTY. 73 

have come down to us, in one form or another, from the 
earliest history of the English-speaking race. 

The Ancient German Tribe. — We have seen our Teutonic 
ancestors living in self-governing village communities, or 
marks, in the forests of ancient Germany. We saw the 
peaceful affairs of such a community ordered by its freemen 
assembled in the ancient mark meeting, the forerunner of 
the modern town meeting. We learned that the inhabitants 
of such a mark community are supposed to have been 
united by the tie of common blood, the mark representing 
originally a group of related families. But running through 
these various isolated mark communities, separated by their 
belts of waste and woodland, was another tie — the tie of 
similar speech and nationality. When war threatened, this 
tie took form in the tribal or national assembly, attended by 
freemen from the different kindred villages. In these tribal 
meetings, held in field or forest, the freemen, each man 
armed with spear and shield — the visible sign of his free- 
dom — joined hands against a common foe. Here they 
chose chiefs of the tribe, sentenced traitors to be hanged 
and cowards to be smothered in mud, judged disputes be- 
tween tribesman and tribesman and between village and vil- 
lage. Here questions of interest to the tribe were debated, 
the warriors shouting their opposition or expressing their 
approval by the clashing of shield and spear. Sometimes 
the freemen of several mark communities united in what was 
called the " ga " or " gau," and sent a hundred fighting men 
under their own leader to the army of the tribe. The " ga," 
or " Hundred," as it afterwards came to be called, also had 
its "hundred mote," or meeting of freemen from the villages 
composing the " hundred." 

The English Shire. — The organization of our German 

Hoxie's N. Y. 5 



74 



GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 



ancestors in tribes and hundreds, as well as in marks and 
towns, was carried by Angle, Saxon, Jute and Friesian into 
the conquered territory of Britain. We have seen how the 
mark community became the old English town, and how 
later it became the parish and the manor. In Britain the 
German " ga " and the German tribe became respectively 
the English " hundred" and the little English kingdom. In 
course of time the various little kingdoms that developed on 
English soil united in the single Kingdom of England, each 
petty kingdom becoming a share, or " shire," in the greater 
English nation. " Out of a union of townships," says a 
modern writer, " grew what was finally known in England 
as the hundred ; out of a union of hundreds grew the 
modern shire; out of a union of modern shires grew the 
English kingdom." The king or head man of the former 
petty kingdom became the ^Eldorman, or earl, under the 
greater King of England ; and its national or tribal assembly 
became the English " shire mote," or shire meeting. 1 In the 
shire meeting, laws were made for the shire, and criminals 

1 " The primitive states in which the settlers originally grouped themselves in 
Britain were reproductions in every material particular of the Continental 
Teutonic states, as described by Caesar and Tacitus. The unit of organiza- 
tion in the primitive state was the village community, which appeared in 
Britain as the tun or township. By a union of townships was formed the dis- 
trict generally known in Germany as a gau or ga, a name which yielded in 
England to that of scir or shire. By a union of gas or shires was formed 
the primitive state. The scir or shire was simply what the word implies, a 
division of the larger whole ; and it is now maintained, with greater or less 
emphasis, by the highest authorities that scir or shire was the term originally 
employed in Britain to describe a district which arose out of a union of town- 
ships. But the early shire, which thus represented the largest division of the 
primitive state, must not be confounded with the modern shire, which repre- 
sents the largest division of the consolidated kingdom."- — Hannis Taylor, 
Origin and Growth of the English Constitution, Part I., Chap. V. 



THE COUNTY. 75 

were judged, much as in the ancient tribal assembly. After 
the Norman conquest of England, the shires became known 
as " Counties " from their resemblance to districts of France 
then governed by counts. 

The County in America. — When our English ancestors 
came to America they brought with them the English plan 
of county government. In Massachusetts and other New 
England colonies, counties were formed by a union of 
towns, and each county had its " county court" for the trial 
of criminals and suits at law. In Virginia, counties were 
established without towns, and in that State the county is 
to-day the chief unit of local government. New York had 
town government before it had counties. The Dutch early 
established a system of local government in the different 
settlements and towns ; and the English, in 1683, divided 
the province into twelve counties. Each had its county 
court, as in Massachusetts, and in each the governor ap- 
pointed a sheriff to collect provincial taxes, and to act as 
the chief executive officer of the county in enforcing pro- 
vincial laws. 

The Modern County in New York. — The sixty-one 
counties into which New York is now divided have been 
formed at different times by the State legislature. The 
law defines a county as " a municipal corporation compris- 
ing the inhabitants within its boundaries, and formed for 
the purpose of exercising the powers and discharging the 
duties of local government, and the administration of public 
affairs conferred by law." In plain words, this means that 
the people of a county, like the people of the town, village, 
and city, may act together as a body politic, in doing such 
public work as the State allows them to do ; that, through 
their representatives, they may acquire and own houses and 



76 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

lands and other property for county purposes ; buy, sell and 
make contracts ; sue and be sued in a court of law, much as 
a single person. Each county in New York acts as an 
agent for the State in collecting taxes and enforcing State 
laws ; and each has its own local capital or " county seat," 
the meeting place of its county board of supervisors, and 
the place where the county court house and jail are main- 
tained. 

The County Board of Supervisors. — The law-making 
body of the county, like that of the village and city, is a 
body of representatives chosen by its voters. This is the 
county board of supervisors, composed of one supervisor 
from each town and city ward 1 in the county. Each mem- 
ber is elected for a term of two years by the voters of his 
town or ward, and each supervisor, as we have seen, 2 is an 
officer of his town or city, as well as a county officer. 

Powers of the Board of Supervisors. — The powers and 
duties of the board of supervisors, like the powers and 
duties of the town meeting, are fixed by State law. They 
may be summarized as follows : 

The board of supervisors has the custody of the corporate prop- 
erty of the county ; audits accounts and charges against the county, 
and directs the raising by taxation of sums necessary to defray them ; 
has power to direct the raising in each town of a sum to defray the 
town's necessary expenses; to cause to be assessed, levied and col- 
lected any taxes due from the town to the State ; to fix the salaries of 
county treasurer, district attorney, and county superintendent of 
the poor ; to borrow money for the use of the county, and to author- 

1 Special laws govern in the city of New York as we have seen. The State 
Constitution also provides that in cities, whose boundaries are the same as a 
county, that the common council or board of aldermen shall have the duties 
and powers of a board of supervisors. 

2 Chapter III., page 25. 



THE COUNTY. 77 

ize a town to borrow for town purposes ; to make local laws for the de- 
struction of wild animals and noxious weeds, and for the protection 
of fish and game within the county ; to divide and erect school com- 
missioner districts within the county ; to divide towns, alter their 
boundaries, and erect new towns; to form assembly districts under 
State law within the county ; to establish fire districts outside cities 
and incorporated villages; to open and discontinue county highways, 
erect bridges, and apportion the expense among the towns and the 
county. The board also makes a list of persons who may be called 
upon to serve as grand jurors in the courts sitting within the county, 1 
and in some counties the board has power, on application of the tax- 
payers, to alter the boundaries of incorporated villages. 

Town and County Government. — As we study these 
powers of the board of supervisors, we see that in many things 
the county government is superior to and over the govern- 
ments of the towns in the county, as the colonel of a regi- 
ment is superior to and over his regimental captains. The 
county may force a town to raise money for town purposes 
or for the State. It may even do away altogether with a 
town, joining its people to another town. In his great 
work, The American Commonwealth, Mr. James Bryce de- 
scribes the system of local government carried on in the 
towns and counties of New York, as being almost a perfect 
one. He says : 

" Of the three or four forms of local government that I have de- 
scribed, that of the town or township with its popular primary assem- 
bly is admittedly the best. It is the cheapest and most efficient ; it 
is the most educative to the citizens who bear a part in it. The town 
meeting has been not only the source but the school of democracy. The 
action of so small a unit needs, however, to be supplemented, perhaps 
also in some points supervised, by that of the county, and in this respect 

1 This is done by commissioners of jurors in some counties 



78 GOVERNMENT OE NE IV YORK. 

the mixed system of the Middle States ' is deemed to have borne its 
part in the creation of a perfect type." 

County Executive Officers. — The county, like the town, 
village, and city, has its executive officers, to enforce its 
laws. The principal county executive officers are the 
Sheriff, District Attorney, County Clerk,. County Treasurer, 
and Superintendent of the Poor. These officers are elected 
by the voters of the entire county, at the time of the gen- 
eral State election, 2 and they hold office for terms of three 
years each. Besides administering county affairs, most of 
these county executive officers are agents of the State in 
enforcing State laws within the county. 

The Sheriff. — The sheriff is the principal executive officer 
of the county. It is his business to preserve its peace, arrest 
offenders against the law, and to have the care and custody 
of convicted criminals, and of persons detained on suspicion 
of breaking the law. He summons witnesses and jurors to 
attend courts held within the county, and executes the legal 
orders and sentences of the judges. The sheriff formerly 
hanged convicted murderers sentenced to the death pen- 
alty. So important is he in executing and enforcing the 

1 In the New England States the town is more important than the county, 
the latter existing largely as a court district. The town meeting is the prin- 
cipal source of local government. In Rhode Island and Connecticut the 
towns send representatives to the State legislature. In most Southern States, 
on the contrary, few if any towns exist, the county being the principal unit of 
local government. In the Middle and Western States, represented by New 
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc., the 
town is the principal unit of local government, while the county is in a 
measure a supervising government. Neither towns nor counties in New 
York send representatives to the State legislature, but these are chosen in 
senate and assembly districts. 

2 The Tuesday following the first Monday in November. 



THE COUNTY. 79 

decrees of the courts, that the sheriff has been called "the 
right arm of the judge." If a riot breaks out, the sheriff has 
power to call out the Posse Comitates, that is, all able- 
bodied men in the county, to suppress it. If then unable 
to bring about order, the sheriff may call upon the governor 
of the State to come to his aid with the State militia. The 
sheriff appoints an Under Sheriff, and also one Deputy 
Sheriff for every three thousand population in his county 
to assist him. So great is his power, that to prevent its 
possible abuse, the State forbids the election of a particular 
sheriff for two terms in succession. 1 The sheriff is paid in 
fees fixed by State law, and in a percentage of the money 
which he collects from the sale of property ordered by the 
courts to be sold for the payment of debt. The office of 
sheriff is derived from the " shire reeve," or head man of 
the ancient shire, who was chosen by its freemen to preside 
over the " shire mote." 

The District Attorney. — The district attorney is the 
public prosecutor of criminals in his county, and the legal 
adviser of its executive officers and grand jury. When 
prosecuting persons charged with crime, the district at- 
torney acts as an agent of the State, all crimes being prose- 
cuted by him in the name of " The People of the State." 
He is paid a salary, which comes out of the county treas- 
ury, and is fixed by the county board of supervisors. 

The County Treasurer. — The county treasurer has 
charge of the public moneys of the county. He receives 
money collected by the town collectors for county and State 
taxes, and pays the latter to a State officer known as the 
Comptroller. He also receives from the comptroller money 
raised by the State for the public schools of his county, 

1 New York State Constitution, Article X., Section I. 



80 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

paying it over to the supervisors of the several towns. In 
some counties the county treasurer is paid a salary fixed 
by the board of supervisors, and in others a percentage of 
the moneys handled by him. 

The County Clerk. — The county clerk keeps the public 
records of the county, such as records of deeds, mortgages, 
and the judgments of its courts. He acts as clerk of the 
county court and of the Supreme Court when sitting within 
his county. He is usually paid in fees for services per- 
formed. 

Other Officers. — From one to three superintendents of 
the poor are elected or appointed in each county. They 
have charge of the county poorhouse, where poor persons 
are cared for, and they make a report annually to the State 
Board of Charities. In some counties having a large popu- 
lation, an officer known as a Commissioner of Jurors is 
appointed by the courts. From lists furnished by the super- 
visors and assessors he selects those persons eligible to serve 
as jurors in the courts held within the county. Every 
county officer who handles money of the county must ac- 
count for it in a yearly report to the board of supervisors. 

The County Court. 1 — Every county in the State, except 
New York county, has a county court for the trial of per- 
sons charged with crime and for the trial of civil suits at 
law. A County Judge, elected by the voters of the entire 
county, for a term of six years, presides over the county 
court. All ordinary crimes against persons and property, 
except murder, may be tried in a county court ; also gen- 
erally any civil suit at law when the sum sued for does not 
exceed $2,000. A person aggrieved by the decision of a 
justice of the peace, may take the matter to the county 

1 See Chapter XVII., The State Judiciary Department. 



THE COUNTY. 81 

court for a re-trial. Such action is called " appealing to the 
count)' court." County judges are paid salaries, differing 
in different counties, their pay being fixed by State law and 
coining out of the county treasury. 

Coroners. — Four coroners are elected by the voters of 
each county. It is a coroner's duty to investigate the causes 
of sudden or suspicious deaths, and he ma)', on request, in- 
quire into the cause of any suspicious fire. For these pur- 
poses he may summon and examine under oath any person 
whom he thinks may have a knowledge of the matter under 
investigation. Coroners were formerly allowed to summon 
a jury in connection with their investigations, which are 
termed inquests. The coroner's jury was, however, abol- 
ished, except in counties wholly or partly in a city of the 
first class, by State law in 1899. Under old English law 
the coroner was a peace officer like the sheriff. From this 
ancient view of the dignity of his office, has probably come 
the modern practice of requiring the coroner to act in place 
of the sheriff when the latter is disqualified. The modern 
New York coroner is usually a practicing physician, though 
this is not required by law. 

The Surrogate and His Court — Each county has a sur- 
rogate's court 1 through which the property of persons who 
have died is distributed among those who are entitled by 
law to receive it. 2 The surrogate's court also has a general 
oversight of the property of persons not of full age. The 
duties of the surrogate were at one time performed largely 
by officers of the church, usually the bishop, and the word, 
" surrogate," meant literally one who was substituted for 
another. In Xew York the surrogate is elected by the 

1 Also called a Probale Court. 

2 See Chap. XXV., Personal and Properly Relations. 



82 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

voters of the county for a term of six years. 1 In counties 
having less than 40,000 population the county judge acts 
as surrogate. 

Things to Remember The county is a municipal 

corporation, created by the State law, and standing in im- 
portance between the town and the State. The county gov- 
ernment supervises in some respects the government of the 
town ; and it acts, at the same time, as an agent for the 
State in collecting State taxes, prosecuting criminals, and en- 
forcing State law. Each town and city ward is represented 
in the county board of supervisors, the lawmaking depart- 
ment of the county. This board is an example of repre- 
sentative democratic government, as the town meeting is an 
example of direct democratic government. 

The people of the county as a whole elect a sheriff, 
county clerk, county treasurer, and other county executive 
officers. 

The judicial officers of the county are the county judge, 
surrogate, and coroners. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

In what year was your county organized? Is it one of 
the original counties of the State, or was it formed by divid- 
ing one of these counties ? What is the name of its county- 
seat ? 

Give an instance of the value of county government as a 
matter of convenience in administering the law. Give a 
historical reason for county government. What powers has 
the New York county, not generally possessed by the 
county in New England ? 

1 Fourteen years in New York county. 



THE COUNTY. S3 

What is the origin of the English shire ? What legisla- 
tive body in the New York county corresponds to the Eng- 
lish shire-mote? Is the county legislative body an example 
of direct or representative democratic government ? 

Name some powers of a board of supervisors in the 
county government; in the government of its several towns. 

Describe the duties of the sheriff, district attorney, 
county treasurer, county clerk, county superintendents of 
the poor. 

What is the jurisdiction of the county court ? 

Name two duties of coroners. 

What are the powers of a surrogate's court? 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

For the origin and development of the English county, see Hannis 
Taylor's Origin and Growth of the English Constitution, Part I., Chap. 
III., IV., and V.; Stubbs's Constitutional History of England, Vol. I., 
Sections 30 to 50; Vol. II., Section 200, etc. See also Howard's 
Local Constitutional History of the United States, Part III. For a 
comparison of county government in different parts of the United 
States, see Bryce's American Commonwealth, Vol. I., Chap. XLVIII. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The State, and the People Who Made It. 

We now come to a government greater and more power- 
ful than the governments of town, village, city, and county 
— the government of the State of New York. What is the 
State? How did it arise? What does it do for the peo- 
ple ? What are its relations to these lesser govern- 
ments? 

If we look on a map of New York, we see spread out be- 
fore us a representation of the visible territory of the State. 
On the north we see Lake Ontario, River St. Lawrence, and 
Canada; on the east, Lake Champlain and the New Eng- 
land States ; on the south, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
and Long Island, stretching like a huge foot out into the 
Atlantic, with the city of New York at its heel ; on the west 
we see Lake Erie, the Niagara River and Niagara Falls. 
We see forty populous cities and sixty-one counties, the 
whole crossed and lined by canals and railroads, and making 
a territory larger than the combined European kingdoms of 
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark. 

The State a Municipal Corporation. — But the State of 
New York, like the town and the county, is something more 
than territory. The real State consists of the people of 
New York, united in a political organization for pur- 
poses of government. In this sense the State, like the town, 
village, city, and county, is a municipal corporation, having 
the power to perform its own public work, manage its 



THE STATE, AXD THE PEOPLE WHO MADE IT. 85 

own public property, and make and enforce its own State 
laws. 1 

But the State of New York, considered as a political unit 
or municipal corporation, is immeasurably superior in 
power and authority to the lesser municipal corporations of 
town, village, city, and county. The State, as we have al- 
ready learned, is the author and creator of these lesser 
political bodies ; and it is only by authority of State law 
that they exist and do business as distinct and separate 
governments. 

The State as a " Sovereign." — Because of the great 
powers exercised by the State government, New York and 
other States of the United States, are sometimes spoken of as 
"Sovereign States." What does this mean? We read of 
kings and rulers who have power to make and enforce laws, 
whose word is life or death to their subjects, whose people 
obey them without question. W T e speak of such powerful 
rulers as "sovereigns"; and the word means one having 
power to rule, and one whose rule is actually obeyed. The 
State of New York possesses in large degree such " sovereign 
power " over its people and over the lesser governments, 
within its borders. Thus, the people of the State of New 
York, through their representatives, have made a law pun- 
ishing the crime of murder by death, and any individual 
member of the State convicted of murder may be made to 
suffer the death penalty. In the same way, the people of 
New York as a political unit, may compel individual mem- 

1 In a strictly technical sense, only the lesser governments created by the 
State — such as the town, village, city, and county — are included in the term 
" municipal corporation." But in its broader sense a municipal corporation 
means a body politic. This includes the State " and each of the govern- 
mental subdivisions of the State." — American and English Cyclopedia of Law. 



86 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

bers of the State to shoulder muskets and fight for its de- 
fense, even at the cost of their own lives. So the State may 
punish as guilty of treason individual citizens who strike at 
its life. It may also compel its individual citizens to give 
up their houses and lands for a reasonable compensation, 
when needed for public purposes. None of these sovereign 
powers are possessed by the lesser municipal corporations. 
No town, village, city, or county may take life, or force its 
people to take up arms in its defense, punish its enemies for 
treason, or take private property for public purposes. Only 
the State possesses such powers. 

The United States the Real Sovereign Power. — But 
while we use the term, " Sovereign State," in speaking of 
New York and other States of the Union, we must not con- 
found the sovereignty possessed by such States with the 
sovereign powers exercised by the United States, for na- 
tional purposes and in our relations with foreign nations. In 
the sense of being a sovereign power, capable of dealing 
with foreign nations, of making war and peace, and of enter- 
ing into treaties with foreign powers, the United States is 
our only sovereign. The relations of the United States to 
the individual States composing it, are fully described in a 
later chapter of this book. 1 

Some Powers of the State. — Notwithstanding the limita- 
tions of State sovereignty, the powers of New York and 
other States of the Union over individuals living within 
their borders, are supreme in many of the most important 
matters connected with our daily lives. Thus the State of 
New York makes laws punishing all ordinary crimes which 
are not offenses against the United States government. It 
is State law that prohibits murder, arson, burglary, forgery, 
i Chapter XXII. 



THE STATE, AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE IT. 87 

theft, and drunkenness. State law prescribes the form of 
marriage, and defines the rights and duties of married peo- 
ple. State law controls and orders the relations between 
parents and children, masters and servants, guardians and 
wards, principals and agents. 1 Our laws regulating ordinary 
business relations are mostly State laws. When we sue a 
man and compel him to pay a debt or to perform an 
agreement, we do it in accordance with the forms prescribed 
by the State. Houses and lands cannot be legally bought, 
sold, or transferred from one person to another, except ac- 
cording to laws made by the State. Our public schools are 
carried on and our teachers licensed and paid under the 
authority of State law. 

Duties of the State. — But while the State exercises these 
vast powers over the individuals composing it, the State has 
also duties to perform in return. The State must protect 
the people composing it in the enjoyment of their personal 
rights to life, liberty, and property. It must suppress crime, 
preserve the public peace, and as far as possible, insure the 
safety and freedom of all its individual members. 

Such are some of the functions performed by the people 
of New York through their organization in the political 
form known as the State. Whence originated this power- 
ful government? What are the forms under which it is ex- 
ercised ? In order to answer these questions intelligently, 
let us turn for a moment to a study of the people who made 
New York. 

The People Who Made New York— The Dutch.— New 
York was planted as a Dutch colony. The Dutchmen came 
from that small corner of Europe which lies between the 
River Scheldt and the Peninsula of Jutland. There the land 

1 See Chapter XXV., " Personal and Property Relations." 



88 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

is low, and the North Sea breaks threateningly on the thin 
coast. Much of the soil is composed of mud and sand 
washed down in the beds of the rivers and flung back by the 
ocean, forming dunes and sandhills. Behind these gather 
lakes and marshes, covered at high tide by the salt waters. 
Large tracts reclaimed from the ocean lie below the level of 
the sea, and are protected from overflow by huge dikes of 
timber and stone, much of it brought hundreds of miles 
from the mountains of Norway. The country is appro- 
priately called "the Nether (or lower) lands." 

On this battlefield of the elements the ancestors of the 
men who planted New York built and maintained their 
homes. They drove back the ocean, drained lake and 
marsh, and covered the new-made land with farms and 
cities. Yet more than once the sea broke down the pro- 
tecting dikes and buried farms and cities under its angry 
waters. The Dutchman's struggle, first, to wrest his home 
from the ocean, and then to preserve it, made him fearless, 
resolute, far-seeing and independent. As he would not 
yield to the sea, so he could not be conquered by man. As 
early as the year 1477 — fifteen years before Columbus set 
foot on the shores of America — the Dutch had forced their 
rulers 1 to agree to the principle of "No taxation without 

1 The first General Assembly or Congress of the Netherlands was called 
together in 1477 by tne Duchess Mary of Burgundy. It refused to vote any 
money to the government until its complaints had been heard and justice had 
been done to the Dutch people. The assembly forced Duchess Mary to 
agree^ to " Het Groote Priviligie," — The Great Privilege — or Magna Charta 
of the Dutch people. " The Great Privilege," among other things gave the 
Netherlands' Congress power to levy taxes, coin money, regulate manu- 
factures and commerce, declare war and raise armies and navies. It was for 
violating the provisions of The Great Privilege that the Dutch people in 1581 
deposed Philip II. of Spain, and established the Dutch Republic. A very in- 



THE STATE, AXD THE TEOPLE WHO MADE IT 89 

consent." In a war lasting from 1563 to 1648 — ten times as 
long as our American war for independence — the Dutch won 
their independence from Spain. When, in 1609, the clumsy 
"Half Moon" rounded the western end of Long Island, 
bringing Henry Hudson and his crew in sight of the lower 
end of Manhattan Island, the Dutchman in his small corner 
of Europe, was choosing his own rulers, paying taxes levied 
only by his own consent, and the seven provinces of the 
United Netherlands were under a republican form of govern- 
ment much like the United States of to-day. 

The English. — While the Dutch were settling New 
Netherland, as they called New York, the "Mayflower" 
landed her Pilgrim band on the rocky shores of New Eng- 
land. The Pilgrims left their homes to obtain personal and 
religious freedom. They were brothers of the Puritans who, 
in 1649, a few years after the " Mayflower's" voyage, over- 
turned monarchy in England, cut off the head of the 
tyrannical Charles I., abolished the House of Lords, de- 
clared " the people under God to be the origin of all just 
powers," l and established the English Free State or Com- 
monwealth. One of the first acts of the Pilgrims and other 
Puritans on reaching America was to establish a system of 
direct democratic government in town meetings. But the 
New England Puritans, although driven from their European 
-homes by intolerance, themselves became intolerant. They 
allowed only church members to vote and hold public office. 

teresting account of this struggle, in which the Dutch people won their inde- 
penden:e from Spain, is given in a book called Brave Little Holland and 
What She Can Teach i's, by Prof. William Elliot Griffis. The author 
draws many parallels between the struggle for freedom in Holland and the 
Struggle for American Independence. Mr. John Lothrop Motley, a famous 
American author, also tells the story in his Rise of the Dutch Republic. 
1 Resolution of the " Rump " Parliament, 1648. 
Hoxies N. V.-6 



go GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

They hanged inoffensive Quakers. They drove Roger Wil- 
liams into the wilderness for daring to exercise his right to 
think and speak freely. Because of persecutions like these 
many of the more liberal Puritans left New England, and 
settled in the territory which is now New York. Hundreds 
of Englishmen, including many important families, 1 thus 
came to New York, bringing the New England town meet- 
ing to the shores of Long Island. These liberty-loving 
Puritans were heartily welcomed by the tolerant Dutch. 

The French. — The common people of France enjoyed as 
late as the twelfth century, a freedom unsurpassed in most 
parts of Europe. In many rural communities public affairs 
were " directly regulated " by " a general assembly of the 
inhabitants." 2 The French towns had charters which gave 
the townspeople power to make and enforce their own local 
laws, and to assess and collect their own taxes, as well as 
taxes due to the king. Gradually, however, these rights 
were taken away by the powerful kings of France, who tried 
also to dictate what religion Frenchmen should practice. 
The Protestant French Huguenots were forbidden to hold 
meetings, were denied the right to hold office, and forced 
from the principal trades and professions. Thousands of 
them fled to Holland, where French colonies took root in 
the principal cities of the Dutch Republic. 3 In the early 
part of the seventeenth century many of these liberty-loving 
Huguenots emigrated from Holland to America. The first 
actual settlers of New York were French Walloons, "in- 
genious, brave and persistent," 4 and the first director general 

1 Lamb's History of the City of New York. 

2 The State, Woodrow Wilson, Sees. 356-366. 

3 Baird's The Huguenot Emigration to America. 

4 Lamb's History of the City of New York. 



THE STATE, AXD THE PEOPLE WHO MADE PP. 91 

of New Netherland was a Frenchman. In 1685, Louis 
XI V., king of France, revoked the famous law, known as the 
Edict of Nantes, which gave protection to the Huguenots. 
Thousands more of the bravest and best Frenchmen, includ- 
ing many famous in letters, art and science, then left their 
country. Many came to New York, bringing with them 
education, habits of industry, graceful accomplishments, and 
love of personal and religious freedom. 1 

Other Nationalities. — The Dutch early invited " persons 
of tender conscience " to settle in New Netherland. The 
result was that strangers were constantly arriving. Among 
them were Germans, Swedes, Scotch and Irish. Love of 
freedom seems to have been a strong motive in most of 
these immigrations. Such were the people whose blood 
mingled at the birth of the " fearless, thoughtful, energetic, 
constructive people, politically alive and. religiously free," 
who " rejected hereditary leaders " and laid broad the 
foundations of the Empire State. 

SUMMARY. 

The State is a municipal corporation with powers superior 
to the municipal corporations of town, village, city and 
count}'. 

The State is the creator of these lesser municipal corpo- 
rations, and may alter or abolish them at will. 

The State is, in a limited sense, a sovereign, having power 
to take the lives and property of its citizens. Most laws 
punishing crime and regulating our ordinary social and 
business relations are State laws ; but the power of the State 
does not extend to questions of national interest, or to those 

1 Lamb's History of the City of New York. 



92 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

affecting our relations with foreign nations. These are con- 
trolled by the United States, which is the supreme power in 
this country. 

As the citizen owes obedience to the State, so the State 
must protect the citizen in the enjoyment of his freedom, 
and in his personal and property rights. 

Liberty-loving people from Holland, England, France, and 
other European countries, settled New York, bringing with 
them many of the fundamental ideas underlying our present 
institutions. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What are the relations generally of the State to the lesser 
municipal corporations of town, village, city, and county? 

What is meant by the term, " a sovereign State " ? 

Mention some powers of the State that indicate its 
sovereignty. 

Has a county government the right to take life as a pun- 
ishment for crime ? Under what laws may life and property 
be taken for public purposes? 

What power in this country is superior to the State of 
New York ? For what purposes is it superior ? 

Mention three important subjects controlled by State law. 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

For a discussion of the nature of the American State, see Bryce's 
American Commonwealth, Volume I., Chapter XXXVI. See also 
"Character, Organs and Functions of the States," Sections 1087, 
1088, etc., in Prof. Woodrow Wilson's The State. Yox a discussion 
of the meaning of the term sovereignty, see Burgess's Political Science 
and Constitutional Law, Part I., Book II., Chapter I. For an 
interesting but exaggerated account of the influence of the Dutch in 



THE STATE, AXD THE PEOPLE WHO MADE IT. 93 

the development of American political institutions, see Douglass 
Campbell's, The Puritan in Holland, England and America. Brave 
Little Holland and What She Can Teach Us, by Prof. William 
Elliot Griffis, contains many interesting and suggestive comparisons 
between the development of free democratic institutions in the Dutch 
Republic and the United States. 



CHAPTER IX. 

How New York Became a State. 

When the Dutch settled in the country discovered by 
Henry Hudson, the United Netherlands, the home of the 
Dutchmen, were at war with Spain. The latter owned vast 
colonies in America, and Spanish ships crossed the Atlantic 
carrying fabulous treasures of gold and silver, the spoil of 
her American possessions, home to Spain. In 1 620, lead- 
ing merchants in the Netherlands organized the West India 
Company, secured powerful fighting vessels, and the per- 
mission to attack Spain's American possessions. They also 
hoped to capture the Spanish treasure ships as they crossed 
the Atlantic. As a part of its plan of operations the West 
India Company agreed to colonize and defend the country 
discovered by Hudson, in return for the exclusive right of 
trading with the Indians there. This right the United Neth- 
erlands granted to the West India Company, and the latter 
thus came into possession of the country between the Con- 
necticut and Delaware rivers. Through the middle of this 
vast territory flowed the Hudson River, and the company 
built forts, one at the mouth of the Hudson, on the site of 
the present city of New York, and another well up towards 
its source, where Albany now stands. 

To this country, which the Dutch called New Nether- 
land, the West India Company at once began to send colo- 
nists. It framed a plan of government for its new posses- 
sions, and appointed a Director General to govern them, who 
94 



NOW NEW YORK BECAME A STATE. 95 

was himself given power to appoint a Council. Director 
and council made laws for New Netherland, subject to the 
approval oi the West India Company, and the government 
of the United Netherlands. The company forbade its colo- 
nists to engage in manufacturing or trade, and parcelled out 
the land lying along the Hudson and Delaware rivers to 
great proprietors called " Patroons," who agreed to plant 
colonies on their lands. Each patroon ruled like a little 
king on his vast estate. The actual settlers of New Nether- 
land, the hard-working farmers and mechanics, had no voice 
in the management of public affairs. 

The Beginnings of Representative Government. — In 1 64 1 
Director General Kieft, of the Dutch West India Company, 
quarreled with the Indians, and called a meeting of the heads 
of the families living in New Amsterdam and vicinity (now 
New York city) to obtain their advice. At this meeting 
the people chose " Twelve Select Men," all emigrants from 
Holland, to act for them. The twelve asked that they be 
given a place in the director's council, that the people might 
have a voice in their own government. The director there- 
upon dismissed the twelve men and ordered them to hold 
no more meetings. In 1643 the people again chose eight 
men, who appealed to the government of the United Neth- 
erlands and asked for the removal of the director. 

In 1646 the W r est India Company made Peter Stuyvesant 
director general. Stuyvesant told the people that he had 
come to " govern them as a father does his children," but 
he soon found himself in difficulty over the taxes which he 
laid upon the people without their consent. He then asked 
the different settlements to choose eighteen men, from whom 
he would select nine men to act " as the people's tribunes " 
to advise the director and council. The nine men chosen 



96 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

by Stuyvesant did not wait, however, to be called upon for 
advice, but boldly appealed to the government of the United 
Netherlands, and asked that New Netherland be taken from 
under " the intolerable rule " of the West India Company ; 
" for no man," said they, " is unmolested or secure in his 
property." They asked that New Netherland be made a 
province under the rule of the States General or Congress 
of the United Netherlands, and that each town be given a 
local government " resembling the laudable government of 
the fatherland." As a result of these appeals the West 
India Company gave the people of the different settlements 
power to choose certain persons from whom the director 
general should select local officers known as " schout," 
" schepens," and "burgomasters" for each settlement. 

The Assembly of 1653. — In December, 1653, an assembly, 
composed of two men from each settlement on Long Island 
and along the lower Hudson, met in New Amsterdam and 
denounced Director Stuyvesant for making laws and ap- 
pointing officers without the consent of the people, declaring 
such practices " contrary to the granted privileges of the 
Dutch government, and odious to every free-born man." 
Troubles now came thick and fast in New Netherland. The 
English seized the land west of the Connecticut River. The 
towns on Long Island rose in rebellion. The Indians threat- 
ened war, and the treasury of the West India Company was 
empty. In the midst of these troubles, Director Stuyve- 
sant, at the request of the burgomasters and schepens of 
New Amsterdam, called together the first Provincial As- 
sembly ever held on the soil of what is now New York. 

New York's First Provincial Assembly. — This assembly 
met April 10, 1664. It was composed of twenty-four men, 
two being chosen by the people of each of the twelve towns 



HOW NEW YORK BECAME A STATE. 97 

or settlements in New Netherland. It called on the West 
India Company to protect New Netherland from the Indians 
and English, but refused to vote a tax proposed by Stuy- 
vesant. A few months later English warships sailed into the 
harbor of New Amsterdam. The Dutch flag was hauled 
down and New Netherland passed, September 8, 1664, from 
the rule of the West India Company into the hands of the 
English. 

New York Under the English. — Charles II. was then 
king of England. He gave New Netherland to his brother 
James, Duke of York. The duke sold the land lying be- 
tween the Hudson and the Delaware, and called the remain- 
der " New York," after the county in England over which 
he ruled. He appointed Col. Richard Nicholls to be 
governor of New York, and the governor was allowed to 
appoint a council. Governor Nicholls was given power to 
make and interpret the laws of the province. He thereupon 
prepared a code known as " The Duke's laws," which he 
presented to a convention of representatives from the towns 
of the province. This code was even less liberal than the 
laws of the West India Company, for under it the people 
were not allowed to choose their own local officers, or to 
have a voice in the laying of taxes which they must pay. 
The convention objected to " The Duke's laws," but the 
governor told its members that he w T as the real master in 
New York, and if they wanted a larger share in the govern- 
ment they must go to the king. Under his new laws the 
governor appointed a mayor, aldermen, and a sheriff, in 
place of the Dutch schepens and burgomasters of New 
Amsterdam, and named local officers in each of the other 
towns. 

The Duke Consents to an Assembly. — After many de- 



98 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

mands by the people, the Duke of York at last consented, 
as a means of raising revenue from New York, to give it a 
provincial assembly. In 1683 he gave the freeholders, or 
landowners, power to choose representatives to an assembly 
with liberty " to consult and debate on all affairs of public 
interest.'' This assembly met in 1683. It was composed 
of ten councilors, appointed by the governor, and of seven- 
teen representatives, elected by the freeholders. It is 
memorable for having gathered into one historic document 
a summary of the more important rights and privileges 
known to the people who made New York, and for enacting 
them into law, under the title of " The Charter of Liberties 
and Privileges." 

The Charter of Liberties and Privileges. — This famous 
charter, enacted more than two centuries ago, and nearly 
one hundred years before the American Declaration of In- 
dependence, contains in substance most of the rights for 
which the war of the revolution was afterwards fought, and 
in outline many of the more important rights possessed by 
the people of New York to-day. 

The charter of liberties and privileges declared the supreme law- 
making power of the province to be in the governor, council, and 
people of New York, met in general assembly ; that every freeholder 
and freeman should be allowed to vote for representatives without 
restraint ; that no freeman should suffer under the law except by the 
judgment of his equals ; that all trials at law should be by jury of 
twelve men ; that no tax should be levied except by the consent of 
the assembly ; that no seaman or soldier should be quartered on the 
people against their will ; that no martial law should prevail ; and 
that no person professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, should be at 
any time questioned for any difference of opinion. 1 

1 Lossing's Empire State. 



HOW NEW YORK BECAME A STATE. 99 

The Duke Becomes King. — The Duke of York is said 
to have signed and sealed the charter of liberties and 
privileges, but it was never delivered to the people. Two 
years later the duke became James II., King of England. 
Fearing the growing spirit of independence in the colonies, 
he rejected Xew York's charter of liberties and privileges, 
abolished the assembly, took away the charters of the New 
England colonies, forbade the people to gather in town 
meetings, and levied oppressive taxes without their consent. 
In 1688 the English people drove him from the throne and 
invited William, Prince of Orange, the Stadtholder 1 of the 
Dutch Republic, with his wife, Mary, the daughter of the 
deposed James, to the throne of England. 

King William Establishes a Government for New York. 
— King William ordained a government for New York, 
composed (1) of a governor, appointed by the king; (2) a 
council, which consisted first of seven and afterwards of 
twelve members, also appointed by the king ; and (3) an 
assembly elected by the freeholders of each county of the 
province. In their mimic sphere these departments cor- 
responded to the king, lords, and commons of England. 
All laws were required, after passing the governor and as- 
sembly, to be submitted to the king ; and no law could be 
passed contrary to the general laws of England. To the 
assembly was given the important power of levying taxes 
for the support of the provincial government. 

Governors Against Assembly. — Now began a long and 
bitter struggle, ending only with the war of the American 
Revolution, between the governors representing the king, 
and the assembly representing the people of New York. 
The governors demanded that the assembly give them 

1 An officer something like our President of the United States. 

LoFC. 



loo GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

a regular and permanent income for the support of the 
provincial government. The assembly refused to grant 
any money except for short periods, and asserted its 
right, as representing the people who paid the taxes, to re- 
ceive a statement of the government's expenses. The royal 
governors dissolved assembly after assembly, only to find 
the next one equally determined and fearless. " No- 
where," says the historian Bancroft, " had the relations of a 
province to Great Britain been so sharply controverted as 
in New York." In 1753 the British government yielded, 
and consented to yearly grants of money by the assembly. 
The governors were also obliged to give a yearly statement 
of expenses to the assembly. New York had won its most 
important right of self-government — the right to levy its 
own taxes and to say how they should be spent. 

New York Becomes a State.— New York had now, 
after nearly ninety years of English rule, become almost 
wholly English in customs and feelings. The people looked 
upon themselves as possessing, by residence and legislative 
conquest, all the rights of Englishmen. But when the 
Stamp Act was passed in 1765, by the British Parliament, 
it seemed to the people of New York to overthrow at one 
stroke all that had been gained for liberty on this side of 
the Atlantic. Great Britain's insi stance led to the union 
of the colonies in the Continental Congress, which recom- 
mended that each colony set up for itself an independent 
government under the general authority of the Congress. 
A provincial convention, elected by the people of New 
York, met at Kingston in 1777, framed the first constitution 
of the State, and adopted it April 20. It was at once pub- 
lished as the law of the land by the secretary of the con- 
vention mounting a barrel in front of the courthouse where 






HOW NEW YORK BECAME A STATE. 101 

the convention was sitting, and reading the constitution to 
the assembled multitude. Thus New York took its place 
as one of the States in our great American Union. 

SUMMARY. 

New York was settled under the direction of the Dutch 
West India Company, a private corporation which was 
given the power to govern, as well as colonize the country. 
The West India Company, under the general supervision 
of the government of the United Netherlands, made and en- 
forced the laws of New York, and the people had at first no 
voice in public affairs. 

At public meetings called by the director generals of the 
West India Company, the people chose at different times 
twelve, eight, and nine men to act for them in public 
matters. This was the beginning of popular representation 
in the province. Delegated conventions, whose members 
were chosen by the towns of the province, demanded local 
self-government and the right to tax themselves, as under 
the home government in the Netherlands. 

In 1664 New Netherland became the English province 
of New York ; and in 1683 the freeholders were given the 
right to elect a representative provincial assembly. 

The first provincial assembly, under English rule, enacted 
in 1683, the charter of liberties and privileges, which 
contained in outline many of the most important rights 
guaranteed by the present State constitution. 

In 1 69 1 the assembly obtained the important power of 
levying taxes for the support of the provincial government ; 
and in 1753 — sixty-two years later — the right of saying how 
the taxes, so levied, should be spent. 

In 1777 a constitutional convention, elected by the 



102 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

people, adopted and published the first constitution of New 
York State. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

How did the Dutch West India Company come into 
possession of the territory which is now New York ? 

Describe the beginnings of representative government in 
New Netherland. 

What were " the Duke's laws " ? 

Give an account of the assembly which enacted the 
charter of liberties and privileges. 

What important right was given to the New York assembly 
by William and Mary? 

Give an account of the controversy between the royal 
governors of New York and the assembly. How did this 
controversy end ? 

Give an account of the formation of the first constitution 
of New York. 



CHAPTER X. 

The State Constitution. 

We have seen a Dutch colony planted on the banks of 
the Hudson, become the home of a cosmopolitan and liberty- 
loving people, and develop under more than a century of 
English rule into the State of New York. Let us now look 
at the form of government under which the people of New 
York live and work and conduct their public business. 

The State Constitution. — If you have helped to form a 
debating club or a literary society, you will probably 
remember that one of the first things done was to appoint a 
committee to draw up a set of rules for the orderly govern- 
ment of the club. These rules defined and fixed the powers 
and duties of the officers and the rights and duties of 
the members. Such a set of rules is called a constitution. 
The constitution, when reported by the committee, 
is voted upon, "yes" or "no," by the members of the 
club. If accepted it becomes the law of the club, and 
cannot be altered or done away with except by the club. 
No officer or member may lawfully do anything contrary to 
the constitution. In a somewhat similar way, and for much 
the same purposes, the people of New York have adopted a 
written constitution as the fundamental or underlying law 
of the State. 

The Constitution the Supreme Law of the State. — 
The written State constitution, adopted by a majority of 
the voters of the State, establishes in outline the government 

103 



104 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

of the State, as the constitution of the debating club 
establishes in outline the government of the club. No 
public officer or citizen may lawfully do anything contrary 
to the constitution, and no law may be passed by the State 
legislature that is not in harmony with it, for the constitution 
is itself the supreme law of the State. There is no law in 
New York superior to its State constitution, except the law 
found in the constitution and statutes of the United States, 
dealing with subjects which the people of the United States 
have taken away from the States, and placed in the hands 
of the national government. 1 

Beginnings of the Idea of the Constitution Found in the 
Ancient City Charter. — The written constitution, in which 
the people outline their form of government, and limit the 
powers and duties of their public officers, is generally spoken 
of as having its origin on American soil ; but the beginning 
of the idea may be traced to a much earlier period than the 
formation of the States of the American Union. In our 
study of the city, we learned how the ancient towns and 
cities of Holland, England and other European countries, 
obtained written charters from their kings or lords. We 
saw how the people bargained for the right to elect their 
own local officers and to obtain their own courts of justice. 
We saw the rights thus obtained written upon parchment 
and preserved as the charter of the city. In such written 
charters may be traced the beginning of the idea of the 
written State constitution. 

Magna Charta. — In the year 1 21 5, the English people 
lived under the reign of the tyrannical and wicked King 
John. He cruelly murdered his nephew, Prince Arthur, 
and did not hesitate to take the lives and property of his 

1 See Chapter XXII., "The United States, The States and the People." 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 105 

subjects for his own selfish purposes. At last the great 
lords and barons of England could stand John's injustice no 
longer. The)' gathered an army, and met the king at the 
meadow oi Runnymede, by the River Thames, " where 
rushes grow in the clear water and its banks are green with 
grass and trees." Here they forced the king to sign a 
paper known ever since as the great charter of English 
liberty — Magna Charta. In this great charter, a copy of 
which, yellow with age, is still preserved in the Lincoln 
Cathedral, King John promised that he would not sell, 
delay, or deny justice to any man ; that he would imprison 
no man without a fair trial ; that he would observe the 
liberties granted in the charters of the towns and cities, and 
that he would lay no taxes upon the people except by con- 
sent of their representatives in the " general council of the 
kingdom " — that is, the English Parliament. The king 
signed the great charter with a smile on his lips, but when 
he had parted with the barons he raved like a madman, 
flinging himself on the floor, and gnawing sticks and straw 
in his impotent rage ' — all because he had signed a paper 
agreeing to observe the laws and not to oppress his people. 
This great charter, signed by John, is often spoken of as 
being a part of the English constitution, 2 and many pro- 

1 Green's History of the English People. 

2 The English have no formal written document known as The Constitu- 
tion, such as we have in the United States. They consider those things to 
be constitutional which have been long established by custom and usage, or 
which have been enacted by Parliament. The English from the earliest 
times have claimed certain rights and privileges as belonging to the people, 
because they were held to be in accord with the good customs and laws of 
the past. These rights and privileges have been summarized from time to 
time in such historic documents as Magna Charta, the Petition of Right of 
1628, the Habeas Corpus Act, and the Bill of Rights of 1689. Hence these 
documents are spoken of as forming a part of the English constitution. 

H xie's \. Y.- 7 



106 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

visions in our American State constitutions may be traced 
to it. 

The Constitution of the Dutch Republic. — In 1477 an 
event took place in the Netherlands quite similar to the 
signing of Magna Charta in England. A congress of 
representatives from the different States of the Nether- 
lands forced Duchess Mary, their ruler, to sign " Het 
Groote Priviligie," (The Great Privilege), in which she 
promised to observe the liberties granted in the ancient 
charters of the Dutch cities, and to lay no taxes on the peo- 
ple except by consent of their representatives. When the 
Dutch threw off the yoke of Spain, and the Republic of 
the United Netherlands was formed in 1 58 1 , "Het Groote 
Priviligie," signed by Duchess Mary, was made the basis 
of the written constitution of the Dutch republic. 1 

Charters in the American Colonies. — Most of the Eng- 
lish colonies in North America were planted and grew up 
under written charters. Some of these charters were 
granted by the English king to companies of merchants 
similar to the Dutch West India Company, which settled 
New York. These charters usually gave the company the 
right to settle the land, and to govern the colonies which 
it planted, by officers appointed by the company. Such 
were the first charters issued to the companies who 
colonized Massachusetts and Virginia. Other colonies, 
like Pennsylvania, and Maryland, were planted under the 
rule of great proprietors like William Penn, who owned the 
land, and gave charter government to the people who 
settled upon it. Still others, like Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut, received charters directly from the king, under 
which the people were allowed to choose their own officers, 

1 Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic, condensed by Griffis. 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 107 

and, within certain limits, make their own laws. The first 
written constitution actually made by the people of America 
was framed by the freemen of the three towns of Windsor, 
Hartford, and Weathersrleld, lying in the Connecticut valley. 
It was called " The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." 
King Charles II. accepted it as a lawful form of govern- 
ment for the colony of Connecticut, which retained the 
" Fundamental Orders," with scarcely any change, down to 
the time of the revolutionary war. 

Colonial Charters Become State Constitutions. — Under 
these various charters the American colonies grew up with 
governments having general features much alike in every 
colony. Each colony had a governor and council, gener- 
ally appointed by the king, and an assembly usually elected 
by the people. These constituted the law-making power 
of the colony, subject to the government of England. 
When the colonies became States, soon after the Declara- 
tion of Independence, it was easy for the people, by mak- 
ing some alterations, to change their written charters 
granted by the king or great proprietor, into written State 
constitutions. 1 

lt * When they (the colonies) cast off their allegiance to Great Britain their 
self-constitution as independent political bodies took the shape of a re-casting 
of their colonial constitutions simply. Rhode Island and Connecticut did 
not find it necessary to change their charters in any important particular; 
they already chose their own governors and officials as well as made their 
own laws. The other colonies, with little more trouble, found adequate 
means of self-government in changes which involved hardly more than sub- 
stituting the authority of the people for the authority of the English Crown. 
But the charter, the written constituent law, was retained : the new govern- 
ments had their charters which emanated from the people, as the old govern- 
ments had had theirs given by the king. . . . The colonists were not 
inventing written constitutions; they were simply continuing their former 
habitual constitutional life." — Woodrow Wilson, The State, Section 1062. 



108 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

How the Constitution of New York Was Made. — 
New York did not have a charter government, unless Ave 
speak of the charter given by the Netherlands * States 
General to the West India Company, as such a government. 
It is true that the first provincial assembly under the rule 
of the Duke of York, enacted in 1683 the charter of 
liberties and privileges, but it was not accepted by the 
duke. Our first State constitution was the work of a con- 
vention of delegates chosen by the voters of the State soon 
after the Declaration of Independence. This convention 
was given power to frame the outline of a government for 
the new State. It completed its work, as we have seen, 
while sitting at Kingston, in 1777. The newly-framed con- 
stitution declared that the power to govern the State rested 
in the people of the State. It continued the assembly as 
under the old provincial government, and provided for a 
governor to be elected by the landowners or freeholders of 
the State, and for a Senate of twenty-four freeholders, also 
elected by the freeholders, to take the place of the council, 
formerly appointed by the king. This constitution was not 
submitted to the people. The times were perilous ; a 
British army was about to invade the State. The constitu- 
tion makers simply published the result of their work, 
which at once became the law of the State. 

Revising the Constitution. — New York's constitution has 
been revised or remodeled several times by conventions 
elected for that purpose by the voters of the State. The 
first important revision took place in 1 821, the second in 
1846, and the third in 1894. When the members of a con- 
vention elected to revise the constitution have carefully 
considered proposed changes, and have agreed among 
themselves upon a new or revised constitution, it is sub- 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. 109 

mitted to the voters of the State for their approval or rejec- 
tion. Printed ballots are prepared and distributed to each 
voter as he reaches the polling place at the time of the elec- 
tion. On these ballots are the words, "yes." or "no," in- 
dicating whether or not the voter wishes to vote for or 
against the proposed new constitution. If a majority of the 
"electors voting thereon" 1 vote in favor of the new consti- 
tution, it becomes the law of the State. If not, the pro- 
posed constitution is rejected, and the people continue to 
live under their old constitution. We thus see that the 
people of a great State, adopt their fundamental law much 
as the voters of a town meeting vote "yes " or " no," upon 
propositions submitted to them. 

What the Constitution of New York Contains. — When 
we look- at the constitution, as found in the " Red Book," or 
Legislative Manual of the State, we see that it may be 
naturally but somewhat roughly divided into four parts. 
The first is a sort of great charter of liberties or enumera- 
tion of the people's rights, which may never be taken away 
or abridged by the people's rulers. This part of the consti- 
tution is sometimes called the "Bill of Rights." 2 The 
second part states who may vote in New York, prescribes 
the qualifications of voters, and the manner of conducting 
public elections. The third part lays down the form and 
framework of the State government, fixes the boundaries of 
legislative and judiciary districts, and defines the powers 
and duties of the State officers. The fourth part con- 
tains miscellaneous provisions relative to the money, cred- 
its, debts and laws of the State, relative to corporations, 
public charities, the schools, the powers and duties of 

1 New York State Constitution, Article XIV., Section 1. 
2 Se% Chapter XI., Page 114. 



no GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

local officers, and the government of cities, counties and 
villages. 

Amending the Constitution. — In a government like ours 
it is important for the freedom and safety of the people, that 
ample opportunity be given to amend the constitution. 
Otherwise constitutional government might become a 
tyranny, and its only remedy a revolution. A constitution 
that could not be changed when a majority of the people 
wished it, would be like a house too small for a growing 
family. To give opportunity for the people to change their 
constitution, the revised State constitution of 1894 provides 
that, beginning with the year 1916, and every twenty years 
afterwards, and also at such other times as the legislature 
shall direct, there shall be submitted to the voters of the 
State this question, 4< Shall there be a convention to revise 
the constitution and amend the same ? " The constitution 
may also be amended by any two consecutive State legis- 
latures, agreeing by majority vote of all the members of 
each house of both legislatures, to any proposed amend- 
ment, and then submitting it to the voters of the State for 
their adoption or rejection. If a majority of those voting vote 
"yes" on a proposed amendment it becomes the law, other- 
wise it is rejected. 

SUMMARY. 

The constitution, adopted by the voters of the State, is its 
fundamental law. The legislature may pass no law not in 
accord with the constitution ; and no law is superior to the 
State constitution, except the constitution and laws of the 
United States. 

The idea of the written State constitution may be traced 
in the written charters of cities. Magna Charta is spoken 



THE STATE CONSTITUTION. in 

of as a part of the English constitution. Most of the 
British colonies in America had some form of written 
charter as an outline of government. During the revolu- 
tionary war these colonial charters were changed into State 
constitutions. 

New York's constitution contains a summary of the per- 
sonal rights possessed by the people of the State, and lays 
down the form and framework of the State government. 

The constitution may be revised and amended by a con- 
vention elected by the people for that purpose, which must 
afterwards submit its work to the voters of the State ; or two 
successive legislatures may submit any amendment to the 
voters. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is meant by the State constitution ? How does it 
differ from other State laws ? 

Describe in outline the various parts of the constitution of 
New York State. What is meant by the " bill of rights," 
as contained in the constitution? 

Trace the beginnings of the idea of the written constitu- 
tion, in (i) the ancient city charter, (2) Magna Charta, (3) 
14 Het Groote Priviligie," (4) the charters of the early 
American colonies. 

Describe the formation of the Fundamental Orders of Con- 
necticut. 

What law-making bodies were established by the New 
York State constitution of 1777 ? 

Name a provision of the State constitution that in- 
dicates a distrust, on the part of the people, of the State 
legislature. 

When was our State constitution last revised ? By what 



ii2 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

body ? Under what authority ? How did the revised draft 
finally become law? 

Decribe the usual manner of amending the constitution. 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

Read Green's Short History of the English People, Chapter III., 
Sections II. and III., for an account of the origin and signing of Magna 
Charta. Read the same work, Chapter IV., Section IV., " The Eng- 
lish Towns," for the growth and development of charter government 
in English cities. For an account of charter government in the 
American colonies, see Schouler's Constitutional Studies, Part I., 
Chapter II., "The Colonial Governments." For an account of the 
transition from colonial to State government, see Woodrow Wilson's 
The State, sections 1050 to 1065. On the nature, growth and de- 
velopment of American State constitutions, read Bryce's American 
Commonwealth, Vol. I., Chapters XXXVII. and XXXVIII. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Personal Rights. 

Our forefathers went into the war of the revolution to 
defend their personal rights. They did not want independ- 
ence from Great Britain, so much as they wanted the right 
to make an honest living as British subjects on American 
soil. They did not want to be hampered by laws prohibit- 
ing them from making horseshoe nails, or from building 
vessels in which to carry their produce to market. They 
wished to be allowed to trade with their neighbors, or 
wherever they could get the most money for their goods, 
and they did not want to be forced to pay taxes which they 
had no part in assessing or collecting, and in the spending 
of which they had no voice. 

When the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, 
in 1774. its members drew up a petition to Parliament and 
king in which they said : " Permit us (in America) to be as 
free as yourselves, and we shall ever esteem a union with 
you to be our greatest glory and our greatest happiness." 
The British home government rejected this appeal for free- 
dom, and left the men of New York, Massachusetts, Vir- 
ginia, and the other colonies, no choice but submission or 
resistance by arms. 

When the people of the thirteen colonies, in 1776, de- 
clared their independence of Great Britain, and began to set 
up State governments of their own, naturally the first thing 
they wished to make sure of was the preservation of their 

"3 



u 4 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

personal rights. Accordingly we find standing first in nearly 
all the State constitutions adopted during the revolution- 
ary war, declarations of rights — rights which may never be 
abridged or taken away from the people. 

Declarations of Personal Rights in Early State Consti- 
tutions. — Such a declaration of rights, placed at the head 
of a newly-made State constitution, was usually known as a 
" bill of rights"; and these included nearly every impor- 
tant personal right known to our liberty-loving ancestors. 
Tlius, the "bill of rights" at the head of Virginia's new 
constitution, declared all political power to be vested in and 
derived from the people, and that the magistrates and pub- 
lic officers are the people's trustees and servants ; the Penn- 
sylvania " bill " that all freemen have a right to elect or to 
be elected public officers; the Massachusetts "bill" that if 
private property is taken for public purposes it must be 
upon reasonable compensation ; and the North Carolina 
" bill " that every person has an inalienable right to worship 
God according to the dictates of his own conscience. 

Called " Bills of Rights " from the English Bill of Rights 
of 1689. — It is probable that these declarations of rights in 
the newly-made constitutions, were called " bills of rights," 
in imitation of the great Declaration of Right, drawn up by 
the English Parliament in 1689, after the tyrannical James 
had been driven from England ; this was presented to 
William and Mary, and accepted by them before Parliament 
would allow them to take the throne ; and afterwards it was 
enacted into law under the title of the " Bill of Rights." 
Like Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights of 1689, is often 
spoken of as being a part of the English constitution. 

The " Bill of Rights " in the New York State Constitu- 
tion. — New York's constitution, adopted in 1777. did not at 



PERSONAL RIGHTS. 115 

first contain a formal " bill of rights," although it embodied 
the utterances of the Declaration of Independence and in- 
cluded an endorsement of the Dutch principle of freedom in 
matters of religion. Before the close of the revolutionary 
war, however, a formal declaration of rights was placed in 
our State constitution. 

Looking at the constitution, as adopted by the voters 
after the last revision, in 1894, we find standing first, and 
before its various numbered sections this preamble : 

" 117, the people of the State of New York, grateful to 
Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its bless- 
ings do establish this constitution." 

There is here condensed in twenty-five words the history 
of the authority for our State government. Following the 
preamble is Article I. of the constitution, composed of 
eighteen sections, being the New York " bill of rights." 

Arbitrary Power Not to be Exercised. — Article I., Sec- 
tion I of the State constitution reads : " No member of the 
State shall be disfranchised or deprived of any of the rights 
or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless by the 
law of the land or the judgment of his peers." What does 
this mean? In plain words it means that no person of the 
State, however poor or humble, may, without just cause, as 
decided in a trial before a court of law, be deprived of his 
right to vote, of any money or property belonging to him, 
or of any other lawful right ; that if he loses any of his 
rights, it must be in consequence of crime, of which he has 
been found guilty by due process of law. 

To understand fully this section of the constitution, we 
must go back to the time when the English barons met 
King John at Runnymede and forced him to sign the Great 
Charter. In that charter there is a famous promise made 



n6 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

by the king which reads : " No freeman shall be seized, or 
imprisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way 
brought to ruin, save by the law of the land x and the legal 
judgment of his peers." John, we remember, had taken the 
lives and property of his subjects for his own selfish pur- 
poses. He had imprisoned men without trial or authority 
of the law, and had tortured them to make them give up 
their possessions. In this clause of Magna Charta he 
promised to stop such abuses. Section I of Article I. of 
our State constitution, is this famous promise of Magna 
Charta applied to modern conditions. 

Trial by Jury. — Section 2 of Article I. of the State con- 
stitution reads : " The right of trial by jury in all cases in 
which it has heretofore been used shall remain inviolate 
forever." This fixes more firmly the guaranty against 
arbitrary power given by Section I. Trial by jury is a part 
of " the law of the land," or due process of law, by which 
the guilt or innocence of a person accused of crime is to be 
determined. It gives an accused person the right to de- 
mand that a jury of twelve impartial men 2 shall examine in 
open court the proofs o( his innocence or guilt, and that 
only after the twelve have decided him guilty, is he to be 
punished. The jury is also used in determining the truth 

1 " The words ' by the law of the land,' as used in Magna Charta, are 
understood to mean due process of law ; — that is, by indictment or present- 
ment of good and lawful men; and this, says Lord Coke, is the true sense 
and exposition of the words." — Kent's Commentaries. " By 'the law of the 
land ' is most clearly intended the general law— a law that hears before it 
condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgment only upon 
trial. The meaning is that every citizen shall hold his life, liberty and prop- 
erty and immunities, under the protection of the general rules which govern 
society." — Webster in the Dartmouth College Case. 

2 The jury in the court of the justice of the peace consists of six men. 



PERSONAL RIGHTS. 117 

in private disputes, wherein one person sues another in a 
court of law. This right to a trial by a jury of twelve men 
is a very old one, and its beginning may be traced in a 
number of early English customs. When, in 1066, William 
the Conqueror crossed the channel, defeating the English at 
the battle of Senlac, he ordered a census of their houses, 
lands and cattle to be taken. For this purpose he ordered 
that twelve men in each neighborhood should give him the 
facts, swearing to their truth. This was termed ascertaining 
the facts " by inquest." 1 It had long been a custom of the 
English people to settle disputes in folk meeting, where the 
freemen of the hundred or shire gathered in hundred-court 
or county-court to discuss and decide the public business. 
At such meetings, both the person complaining and the 
person defending himself, after swearing each to his side of 
the matter, would, if possible, get twelve friends or neigh- 
bors to swear that they believed him to be a truthful man. 
It finally became a custom, about the time of King Henry 
II., to have the facts in all such disputes left to an impartial 
jury of twelve men, who were to ascertain the truth. Thus 
arose the legal right of trial by jury. 

The Right of Freedom of Conscience and Worship. — 
Section 3 of Article I. of our State constitution guarantees 
" the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and 
worship without discrimination or preference," forever to 
every person in the State ; and declares that " no person 
shall be rendered incompetent as a witness on account of his 
opinion in matters of religious belief." Thus, Catholic, 
Protestant, Jew, and Agnostic, stand on an equal footing 
under the law of New York. All have equal rights ; all may 
vote or hold office. None is denied any public privilege. 

1 Hence, possibly, the origin of the term " Coroner's Inquest." 



u8 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

But this liberty of conscience granted by the constitution, 
may not be construed to protect vicious or immoral practices 
carried on in the name of religion. 

The Writ of Habeas Corpus. 1 — Section 4 of Article I. of 
the State constitution preserves to the people of New York 
the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and declares that this privilege 
shall not be suspended '• unless when in case of rebellion or 
invasion, the public safety may require its suspension." The 
writ of habeas corpus is an order that may be obtained from 
a judge by the relatives or friends of a prisoner, command- 
ing those restraining him to bring him into court, that it 
may be lawfully decided whether or not he is justly and 
legally restrained. The right to this writ or order is one of 
the oldest and most highly-prized rights of the English- 
speaking people. It is based on the famous promise of John 
in Magna Charta, that no freeman shall be taken, or im- 
prisoned, but by the lawful judgment of his peers. 2 The 
right to the writ of habeas corpus applies in all cases where 
a person is believed to be unlawfully restrained. 

Excessive Bail Shall Not be Required, Nor Cruel Pun- 
ishments be Inflicted. — Section 5 of Article I. of the State 
constitution reads : " Excessive bail shall not be required 
nor excessive fines imposed, nor shall cruel and unusual 
punishments be inflicted, nor shall witnesses be unreasonably 
detained." As we shall see in another chapter, 3 when a 
person is arrested and accused of crime, instead of being put 

1 Habeas corpus, from the Latin, habeo, to hold ; and corpus, the body. 

2 Another clause in Magna Charta reads : " Nothing from henceforth 
shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition of life or limb, but it shall be 
granted freely, and not denied." "This important writ," says Mr. John 
Fiske, " may have been the prototype of the writ of habeas corpus, and was 
granted for a similar purpose." 

3 Chapter XVI., " How Criminals are Brought to Justice," 



PERSONAL RIGHTS. 119 

at once into jail to await his trial, he is sometimes allowed to 
go free, on giving a pledge that he will appear in court to be 
tried at a future time. Giving such a pledge is called 
" giving bail," and this section of the constitution means 
that a court or judge cannot require a pledge so large that 
an accused person may not take advantage of this right. 
All of Section 5, except the part referring to witnesses, is 
taken word for word from the Bill of Rights of 1689. 

Other Rights of Accused Persons. — Section 6, of Arti- 
cle I., gives a person accused of crime the right to have the 
matter examined by a grand jury, 1 and the further right of 
a public trial, at which the accused person is allowed to have 
a lawyer to defend him. It also says : " No person shall 
be subject to be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense ; 
nor shall he be compelled to be a witness against himself; nor 
be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process 
of law ; 2 nor shall private property be taken for public use 
without just compensation." 

Private Rights, and the State's Right of Eminent 
Domain. — As will be seen from the last section, the law 
gives the people of the State the right to take private prop- 
erty for public purposes. This right is called the right of 
eminent domain. Under it the State can compel a man to 

1 See Chapter XVI., " How Criminals Are Brought to Justice." 
9 " It, (the phrase, • due process of law ') has long been in use among law 
writers and judicial decisions as implying correct and orderly proceedings, 
which are due because they preserve all the securities for private rights which 
are applicable to the particular case. In this sense it is synonymous with 
1 law of the land,' as used in the famous thirty-ninth chapter of Magna 
Charta, which declared that no ' freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or 
disseized or outlawed, or banished, or otherwise destroyed, nor will the king 
pass upon him or commit him to prison unless by the judgment of his peers or 
" the law of the land." ' The identity of the two in meaning and purpose is 
now well settled. " — Cooley, Principles of Constitutional Law. 



120 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

give up his house and land, if the premises are needed for a 
public institution, such as a schoolhouse, hospital, or park. 
Under the right of eminent domain, we see that the in- 
dividual holds his property subject to the greater right of 
the people of the State; but the individual thus compelled 
to yield his private rights, is under the constitution, entitled 
to just and reasonable compensation. 

The Right of Freedom of Speech. — Section 8, of Article 
I. reads : " Every citizen may freely speak, write and pub- 
lish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the 
abuse of that right ; and no law shall be passed to restrain 
or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press." In prosecu- 
tions for libel the truth may be given in evidence. These 
are rights fully enjoyed in but few countries outside the 
United States. 

Freedom of Petition. — Section 9, of Article I. declares 
that " no law shall be passed abridging the right of the peo- 
ple peaceably to assemble and to petition the government or 
any department thereof." This right has its origin in the 
English Bill of Rights of 1689, in which it was declared 
" that it is the right of subjects to petition the king and all 
commitments and prosecutions for such petitions are illegal." 

Rights in Land. — Other sections of Article I. declare 
that the people of the State possess the original and ulti- 
mate ownership of the Jand of the State ; and that any land 
losing its private owner must revert to the State.. Every 
private owner of land is given full right to sell or dispose of 
it, except that agricultural lands may not be leased for a 
longer period than twelve years. No one may buy land 
from the Indians without consent of the legislature ; and no 
alien may own land in New York without formally declar- 
ing his intention of becoming a citizen. 






PERSONAL RIGHTS. 121 

English Common Law and the Battle of Lexington. — 
Section 16, of Article I. declares that all parts of the com- 
mon law of England, 1 not repugnant to the State constitu- 
tion, which were in force in the colony of New York on 
April 19, I//5, shall remain as a part of the law of the 
State. This is the date of the famous battle of Lexing- 
ton, in the beginning of the war of the revolution. After 
that assault upon American liberty, the people of New York 
no longer considered themselves as living under the laws of 
Great Britain. 

Civil and Political Rights. — The personal rights above 
described, as guaranteed to the people of New York by the 
State constitution, are known as civil rights, to distinguish 
them from other rights known as political rights. Civil 
rights belong equally to every man, woman and child of the 
State, while political rights are more in the nature of special 
privileges given to certain classes of people. Thus the 
right to vote is a political right, and is given generally to 
male citizens, twenty-one years old and over ; while the 
rights of freedom of speech, liberty of the person, personal 
security, freedom of conscience, and the right to hold prop- 
erty, are civil rights, belonging equally to all members of 
the State, whether men or women. 

Criminals May Lose Their Personal Rights. — A mem- 
ber of the State loses his political rights, such as the right to 
vote and to otherwise take part in the government of the 
State, on being convicted of a felony ; and he cannot there- 
after exercise these rights, unless restored to citizenship by 
the governor. This is not the case, however, as regards the 
civil rights of a convicted criminal. He is still entitled, 
after serving the sentence imposed for his crime, to the pro- 

1 See " Sources of State Law," Chapter XXV. 
Hoxie's N\ Y.-8 



122 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

tection of the State in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and 
property ; but a person condemned to prisoner life loses 
all property rights, and is regarded by the State as legally 
dead. 

SUMMARY. 

Article I. of our State constitution, known as the " Bill of 
Rights," guarantees the free exercise of many personal 
rights to the people of the State. 

Among the personal rights so guaranteed are freedom 
of the person, the right of trial by jury, freedom of 
conscience in religious matters, the right to the writ of 
habeas corpus, reasonable bails and fines, humane legal pun- 
ishments, reasonable compensation for private property 
taken for public uses, freedom of speech, and freedom to 
petition the government. 

Many of these personal rights are inheritances from 
Magna Charta, the English Bill of Rights of 1689, and 
customs of our English and Dutch ancestors. 

These personal rights belong equally to all the people of 
the State, and are known as civil rights. They are distin- 
guished from political rights, which are given only to certain 
classes of citizens. 

Criminals may lose both their civil and political rights. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is the origin of the expression, " bill of rights " ? 

In what part of our State constitution do we find the 
" bill of rights " ? 

What does the constitution mean when it says that no 
member of the State shall be deprived of his rights " unless 
by the law of the land, or the judgment of his peers " ? 



PERSONAL RIGHTS. 123 

Describe the duties of a trial jury. 

What provision in the State constitution guarantees free- 
dom of conscience ? 

What is the writ of habeas corpus ? How is it obtained ? 
For what purpose ? 

What is bail ? What provision of the constitution guar- 
antees the right of bail ? 

Name three legal rights of a person accused of crime. 

Describe the right of eminent domain. For what pur- 
pose may it be used ? 

What is meant by " freedom of petition " ? 

What is the difference between a civil right and a politi- 
cal right ? Have all citizens equal political rights ? Have 
they equal civil rights ? How may a citizen lose his civil 
and political rights ? 



CHAPTER XII. 
The Right to Vote. 

As we walk the streets of a city or village in New York 
on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 
we see here and there groups of men gathered in front of 
certain buildings designated as " polling places." Some are 
hurrying into the polling places, or standing in line waiting 
for their turn to go in and vote. Others, having cast their 
ballots, are coming out. A policeman, with club and badge, 
stands near — the visible symbol of the law. Men of every 
class — rich and poor, the merchant prince and the day 
laborer, the hard-working farmer and mechanic, and the idle 
fellow — all gather at the polling places on election day. 

What is it all about ? Why is this voting going on ? 
Because this is the manner in which the people of the State 
of New York engage in the business of self-government. 
Every man, as he puts his ballot into the box on election 
day, is for the time being a part of the government, as much 
as the sheriff who arrests a criminal, or the judge who 
sentences him from the bench. On election day the voter 
helps to choose public officers to do the public work. At 
the polling place he says, " yes " or " no," to a proposed 
State constitution. Here he votes for legislators to make 
the laws, a governor to enforce the laws, and judges to in- 
terpret the laws and to apply them in particular cases. 
The individual voter, as he casts his ballot, is thus the 
fundamental governing power in the State. 
124 



THE RIGHT TO VOTE. 125 

Who May Vote. — The New York State constitution 
says : l "Every male 2 citizen of the age of twenty-one years, 
who shall have been a citizen for ninety days, and an in- 
habitant of this State one year next preceding an election, 
and for the last four months a resident of the count)-, and 
for the last thirty days a resident of the election district in 
which he may offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such 
election in the election district of which he shall at the time 
be a resident, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are 
or hereafter may be elective by the people, and upon all 
questions which may be submitted to the vote of the people." 
An exception to this is made in favor of soldiers and sailors 
in time of war. They may vote, though they may not at 
the time of voting be in their home election districts, and 
their ballots will be counted as if cast in the home districts. 

Who Are Citizens. — Who are citizens, and what is the 
citizenship that gives a man the right to vote in New York? 
First, citizenship is a national rather than a State affair. 
A person must be a citizen of the United States in order to 
be a citizen of his State. " All persons born or naturalized 
in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 
are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein 
they reside," reads the fourteenth amendment of the United 
States constitution. A law of the United States 3 also de- 
clares that all persons born out of the country but of citizen 
parents are citizens. Citizenship, for purposes of voting in 
New York State, implies therefore : 

I. That the voter must have been born in the United 

1 Article II., Section I. 

s By State law of 1901, women taxpayers are allowed to vote in town and 
village elections on propositions involving the spending of the public money. 
J United States Revised Statutes 2d ed., Section 1993, Title 25. 



126 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

States, and that he is not the subject of another na- 
tion ; or 

2. That, if born out of the United States, he is the child 
of parents who are citizens ; or 

3. That, though born in another country, he has been 
naturalized as a citizen of the United States. 

Some States allow immigrant residents, who have de- 
clared their intention of becoming citizens of the United 
States, to vote ; but in New York only the full-fledged 
male citizen, twenty-one years of age or over, may vote at 
the general elections. We thus see that, while the United 
States confers citizenship, the State confers the right to vote 
and fixes the qualifications of the voter. 

How An Alien 1 May Become a Citizen. — A foreigner 
may become a citizen of the United States, and thus a citi- 
zen of New York State, by : 

1. Living five years continuously in the United States, 
and one year in the State where naturalization is sought, 
and 

2. Making oath before a court of record 2 at least two 
years before his admission to citizenship, that it is his in- 
tention to become a citizen and to renounce forever his al- 
legiance to any foreign state or ruler, and to renounce any 
foreign titles or orders of nobility he may hold ; and 

3. At the time of his application for admission as a 
citizen, taking an oath to support the constitution of the 
United States. 

The court must also be satisfied that the applicant for 
citizenship has during the year before he takes this oath 

1 An alien is a person born in a foreign country and not a subject of the 
United States. 

2 A court which has a clerk and an official seal. 



THE RIGHT TO VOTE. 127 

behaved as " a man of good moral character," attached to 
the principles of the constitution of the United States, 
and well disposed towards the good order and happiness of 
the same. 1 

Some Exceptions to the Rule. — An alien, over twenty- 
one years of age, who has been honorably discharged from 
the army or navy of the United States, may take the oath 
admitting to citizenship, without any previous declaration of 
his intention to become a citizen, if he has lived a year in 
the United States and is a person of good moral character ; 
it being thought that a man willing to fight for the country 
is entitled to the rights of a citizen of the country. Minor 
children of naturalized parents, living in the United States, 
are considered as citizens ; and the naturalization of a hus- 
band makes his wife a citizen; but New York does not 
allow a woman citizen to vote except at school district elec- 
tions. 2 Indians not taxed and Chinese are excluded from 
citizenship; and idiots, lunatics, and criminals sentenced to 
State prison, are not allowed to vote. 

The people of New York seem to have a growing feeling 
of the importance and value of citizenship in the State, and 
desire only the best people from foreign lands to become 
citizens here ; so in order to prevent the hurried naturaliza- 
tion of unfit persons on the eve of election, the people placed 
in the constitution of 1894 tne ru l e that a man must be a 
citizen of the United States for at least ninety days before 
being allowed to vote. Thus a naturalized citizen who has 
not been naturalized at least ninety days before an election, 
may not vote at that election. 

1 United States Revised Statutes, 2d ed., Section 2165, Title 30. 
2 See note, "Voters at School District Meetings," Chapter XVIII., " The 
Public Schools;" also note, page 125. 



128 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

Citizens May Lose the Right to Vote. — A man convicted 
of bribery or of desertion from the army or navy of the 
United States, or of an infamous crime punishable in a 
State prison, loses the right to vote, unless afterwards re- 
stored to citizenship. A person convicted of accepting 
money or any other bribe for voting, loses the right to vote 
for five years. A person who bets on the results of an 
election is also disqualified for voting at that election ; and 
no person may vote at a general, special, or city election in 
New York, unless he has registered his name and address 
with the election officers at least ten days before the elec- 
tion. This helps to prevent fraudulent voting, by giving the 
officials and others interested, an opportunity to look up the 
person registering and to find out if he be entitled to vote. 
This rule requiring registration does not apply in town 
elections, or in villages having a population of 5,000 or less, 
except by special law of the State; it being supposed that 
in such small places every voter is known, and that oppor- 
tunities for illegal voting are consequently small. 

In School District Meetings. — In the school district elec- 
tions held in the country districts of the State, the men and 
women of the district, who are citizens of the United States 
and of full age, and who own or rent houses or lands in the 
district, or who pay taxes on personal property of the value 
of fifty dollars in the district, or who have living with them 
children who have attended the district school for at least 
eight weeks during the year, meet and vote much as in the 
town meeting. The women join with the men in electing 
school officers and in determining the amount of money to 
be raised and expended for school purposes. 

Voting a Political Right. — The right to vote is a political 
right rather than a civil right. That is, the right to vote is 



THE RIGHT TO VOTE. 129 

not a right 'inherent in a citizen of a State, like the right of 
freedom of speech, or of liberty of conscience ; but it is a 
privilege to participate in the government, conferred upon a 
certain class deemed competent to exercise it. Thus while 
the constitution guarantees to all persons in the State — men, 
women and children — the exercise of the civil right of free 
speech, it limits the general political right of voting to cer- 
tain male citizens, twenty-one years of age and over. A 
State has power to restrict or extend the right to vote ; but 
the United States constitution, Amendment XV., forbids 
any State to abridge or deny the right of any citizen to 
vote " on account of race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude." 

Voting a Duty. — No man enjoying the protection of the 
laws, and wishing to see them faithfully executed, and the 
public business properly performed, should fail to exercise 
his right to vote ; for constitutions and statutes avail but 
little in the ordinary management of public affairs, unless 
they have back of them honest, faithful, and efficient public 
officers. How the people of New York vote, and the 
manner of choosing public officers, are described in detail in 
Chapter XX., " The Conduct of Public Elections." 

SUMMARY. 

The ordinary citizen takes part in the government of his 
State when he votes at public elections. 

The general right to vote in New York is confined to 
male citizens of the United States, twenty-one years of age 
and over, but exception is made in favor of certain women 
in school district, town and village elections. 

Aliens, resident for five years in the United States may 



i 3 o GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

become citizens on making formal declaration of their inten- 
tion so to do, and on taking the oath of allegiance. 

The United States confers citizenship, but the State con- 
fers the right to vote, which is a political not a civil right. 

Citizens may lose the right to vote through conviction 
of infamous crime and by failure to register. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Is the right to vote a civil or a political right ? 

What government in this country confers the right to 
vote ? What government confers citizenship ? 

Mention five requirements of a legal voter in New York 
State ? 

Who are citizens ? 

How may an alien obtain citizenship in the United 
States ? 

Mention three ways in which a citizen may lose his vote 
at a particular election. 

How are would-be voters registered ? 

May any citizen vote at a school-district election ? 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Departments of State Government — The Legisla- 
ture. 

If we go through a large cotton manufactory, during the 
height of the busy season, we see in one part of the factory 
huge bales of cotton fiber brought in from the trucks, un- 
packed and assorted. In another part we hear the roar of 
machinery, as clashing looms and flashing shuttles lengthen 
inch by inch the new-made woof into good stout cloth. In 
another department we see this cloth in the process of 
bleaching ; while in a fourth, busy packers and shippers are 
preparing to send it to market. In still another part of the 
establishment is the manager's office, with its small army of 
clerks and bookkeepers. Each department has a different 
work to do, but all are working harmoniously for a common 
purpose. As in the manufactory, so in the vast and com- 
plicated business known as the government of the State, the 
work is carried on in different departments, yet all with the 
single aim of service to the people. 

Three Departments of Government. — There are, as we 
have seen, three general departments running through the 
government of the United States, the governments of the 
several States, and the local governments of town, village, 
city, and county, organized under the government of the 
State. These are the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary 
Departments. The legislative department makes the laws. 
The executive department enforces the laws, and the 

131 



1 32 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

judiciary department interprets the law, and applies it in the 
trial of criminals and civil suits at law. The legislative de- 
partment is represented in the State by the legislature, in 
the county by the board of supervisors, in the town by the 
town meeting, in the city by the common council or board 
of aldermen, and in the village by the board of village 
trustees. The head of the executive department of the State 
is the governor, of the city the mayor, and of the village the 
village president. It is not so easy to point out the executive 
head of the county and the town; for while the sheriff may 
be the most important county executive officer and the 
supervisor the most important executive officer of the town, 
neither sheriff nor supervisor can be said to be over or 
superior to the other county and town executive officers. 
The judiciary department is composed of courts and judges. 
Three Departments* Not Always Separate and Dis- 
tinct. — While the work of these three departments is, as a 
rule, quite separate and distinct, each department having its 
own officers usually unconnected with the other depart- 
ments, there are many public officers who perform duties in 
more than a single department. Thus the governor of the 
State, while at the head of its executive department, is an 
important part of the legislative department, most bills 
before becoming laws being approved by him. The gover- 
nor also exercises judicial functions in reviewing the facts in 
cases where criminals sentenced by the courts appeal to him 
for pardon or commutation of their sentences. In other 
countries there is often much less separation of the three 
departments of government than in ours. Thus, in Eng- 
land, the cabinet, comprising the chief executive officers of 
the government, is composed of active members of the 
British Parliament, the law-making bodv ; while in such 



THE L E G1SLA Ti 'K E. 



*33 



countries as Russia and Turkey the head of the state is at 
once the chief law-making, law-enforcing and law-interpret- 
ing power. 

Development of the State Legislature. — In our study of 
the town meeting we saw the freemen of the ancient Ger- 
man mark gather beneath some giant oak, parcel out the 
common land, and decide upon the rules for its cultivation. 
In the German tribal assembly we saw warriors from the 
different villages meet in field or forest to debate questions 
of peace or war. We heard their shouts of opposition, or 
the clashing of spears on shields as they signified their as- 
sent to some favored proposition. Such were the rude be- 
ginnings of legislation among our German ancestors. 
Later, in the English shire meeting, we saw the " reeve and 
four discreet men " from each town in the shire, sent to take 
the place of the original primary assembly of freemen now 
grown too large to conveniently handle. In the shire meet- 
ing laws were thus made by representatives of the people, 
instead of directly by the people, as in the mark meeting 
and the town. Our modern State legislature is a still 
further extension of the principle of law making by the peo- 
ple's representatives, and over a much larger territory than 
the English shire. 

New York's Legislature. — The State legislature derives 
its authority to make laws from the constitution adopted by 
the voters of the State ; and it is composed of representa- 
tives chosen by these voters. It meets regularly once a 
year on the first Wednesday in January at the State capitol 
at Albany. It comprises two divisions, or "houses" — a 
Senate of fifty members elected biennially, and an assembly 
of 150 members elected annually. Each house has its 
separate meeting place or " chamber," magnificently 



134 



GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK, 



decorated and furnished in the State capitol building. The 
lieutenant governor of the State is the presiding officer of 
the senate, but he does not vote in that body except in case 
of a tie. The assembly elects one of its own members to 
preside over it. He is called " The Speaker," and he may 




SENATE CHAMBER, ALBANY, N. Y. 

vote on all measures coming before the assembly. A ma- 
jority of each house constitutes a quorum for the purpose 
of doing its ordinary business, and the members receive an 
annual salary of $1,500 each, paid out of the State treasury. 1 

1 In addition travelling expenses of ten cents a mile are allowed each mem- 
ber, from his home to Albany and return, once during each session of the 
legislature. 



THE LEGISLATURE. I35 

The Legislature and the People. — The legislature, thus 
constituted, is in theory the servant of the people, created by 
the people through the constitution, and empowered to 
make laws for the State. In town meeting we see the 
voters decide directly, "yes" or "no" propositions affecting 
their interests. In the legislature we see representatives of 
the people, chosen by the voters, deciding for the people. 
Why do we not have direct democratic government in the 
State at large, as in the town meeting ? As in the case of 
the English shire and the modern American county, prin- 
cipally because it would be impracticable for all the voters 
of the State to meet and vote directly upon the complicated 
matters involved in the vast public business of the State. 
So the people, through the constitution, have divided the 
State into fifty senate districts and 1 50 assembly districts, 
and the voters in each senate district choose every two 
years a senator, and the voters in each assembly district 
every year an assemblyman, to speak and act for them in 
matters of law making left to the State legislature. 

Why a Legislature of Two Houses. — Why do the peo- 
ple choose a legislature of two houses with varying terms 
of office ? Could not a single legislative house do the work 
in a manner satisfactory to the voters ? Yes, and no. A 
single legislative body chosen to-day may represent to-day 
the views of a majority of the voters upon some burning 
public question. Six months from to-day the sober second 
thought of the majority may modify or entirely change its 
former view of the question at issue. If there be a second 
legislative house elected for a term of office differing from 
the first, the sober sense of the mass of the people is likely 
to be in the long run better, represented than by a single 
house. Two legislative houses act as checks upon each 



136 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

other, and tend to prevent the making of careless, ill-timed 
and hasty laws. A few States 1 in the early days of the re- 
public, did start out with a legislature composed of a single 
house, but they soon gave up the plan. New York's two- 
chambered legislature grew naturally out of the old pro- 
vincial assembly, composed, first of the governor's council, 
and second, of representatives elected by the people of the 
counties. 

Legislatures May Misrepresent the People. — It has been 
said that the legislature is in theory the servant of the peo- 
ple, carrying out in its acts or laws the wishes of the people 
who have elected it. In practice, however, a legislator in a 
modern American State may be anything but the people's 
servant. A senator or assemblyman, once chosen, is under 
the law absolutely independent of the people of his district. 
He may vote against their interests, and as long as he vio- 
lates no law of the State, the people have no relief against 
his raw-representation, except to elect another man in his 
place when his term of office expires. To remedy partially 
this apparent defect in our present form of representative 
government, it is proposed by some to make what is known 
as the Initiative and Referendum a part of the State funda- 
mental law. Under the initiative and referendum it is pro- 
posed, when a certain number of voters petition for a law, 
that the legislature shall frame the proposed law and 
submit it to a vote of the people for adoption or rejection, 
much as amendments to our State constitution are now sub- 
mitted. The petition of the voters for a proposed law is 
known as the initiative, and its submission by the legislature 
to the voters as the referendum. Such a practice would 
involve a considerable extension of the principle of direct 
1 Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Vermont. 



THE LEGISLATURE. 137 

democratic government in the State. The initiative and 
referendum is widely practiced in the Swiss republic. 1 

The Constitutional Convention. — An important part of 
the State legislative department is the constitutional con- 
vention, elected from time to time, by the people, for the 
purpose of revising the constitution or of preparing amend- 
ments to it. The manner of electing the members of a con- 
stitutional convention, and of submitting the work of the 
convention to the people, has been described in a previous 
chapter. 

SUMMARY. 

State and local government is carried on in three depart- 
ments, legislative, executive and judiciary. 

The legislative department makes laws, the executive 
department enforces the law, and the judiciary department 
interprets the law and applies it in particular cases. 

The legislature, composed of a senate of fifty members 
and an assembly of one hundred and fifty members, is the 
chief constituent of the State's legislative' department. 

The legislative houses act as checks upon each other to 
prevent ill-advised and hasty legislation. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What are the departments of State government ? De- 
scribe generally the purposes of each. 

Is it proper to speak of the State legislature as a " primary 
assembly " ? 

Describe in detail the constitution of the New York legis- 
lature. 

J For an account of the initiative and referendum as practiced in the Swiss 
republic, see The Referendum in Switzerland, by Deploige. 
Hoxie's N. Y.- 9 



THE LEGISLATURE. 139 

Mention a difference between the powers of the lieutenant 
governor, while presiding over the senate, and the powers 
of the speaker. 

What are some of the advantages of a legislature com- 
posed like that of New York's over a legislature of a single 
house ? 

What is meant by initiative and referendum ? 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Legislature — (Continued). 

Every ten years the people of New York are counted 
for the purpose of apportioning senators and assemblymen 
among them. This count takes place in the years ending 
with the figure 5. On the result of such count or " census," 
as it is called, are fixed the boundaries of the senate and 
assembly districts. 

Senate Districts and Senators. — The State constitution * 
says that the ratio for apportioning senators shall always be 
found by dividing the whole number of inhabitants of the 
State, aliens excepted, by fifty. Thus if the State at a par- 
ticular census be found to contain a population of ten mil- 
lions, each 200,000, or one fiftieth part of the whole, would 
be entitled under the ratio, to elect one State senator. This 
strict mathematical rule is not however carried out in prac- 
tice ; for the constitution further says, that in forming senate 
districts, no county may be divided, except to form two or 
more districts wholly within it ; and further, that no one 
county may have more than one third of all the senators ; 
and that no two counties joining each other may have more 
than one half of the senators of the State. This rule is 
intended to prevent a small section of the State, with a 
preponderance of population, from making laws in the 
interest of the section as against the interests of the State 
as a whole. 

1 Article III., Section 4. 
140 



THE LEGISLATURE. 141 

When There Maybe a Senate of More than Fifty Mem- 
bers. — Though the ratio for apportioning State senators 
among the people is one fiftieth of the entire population, the 
senate is not limited to exactly fifty members. " The senate 
shall always be composed of fifty members," says the constitu- 
tion, " except, that if any county, having three or more sen- 
ators at the time of any apportionment, shall be entitled on 
such ratio (the population of the State divided by fifty) to an 
additional senator or senators, such additional senator or sen- 
ators shall be given to such county in addition to the fifty" ; 
and the whole number of State senators shall be increased 
by the additional number allowed the particular county. 

Representation of the City of New York in the Senate. — 
New York county (containing the Boroughs of Manhattan 
and the Bronx, New York) has twelve senators ; Kings 
county (containing the Borough of Brooklyn) has seven; 
and Erie county (containing Buffalo) has three. New York 
and Kings have together one less than two fifths of the 
entire fifty senators in the State; and if w r e add the senator 
from Queens county (containing the Borough of Queens, 
New York) and the senator who represents Richmond (the 
Borough of Richmond) and Suffolk counties, we find that 
the city of New York to-day elects more than two fifths of 
the entire State senate. 

Assembly Districts and Assemblymen. — The quotient 
obtained by dividing the entire population of the State, 
aliens excluded, by the whole number of assemblymen, is 
the ratio for apportioning assemblymen among the people ; 
but each of the sixty-one counties 1 of the State must have 
at least one assemblyman, except the Adirondack counties 
of Fulton and Hamilton, which together have but one. 

1 Except Nassau, now part of the 3d dist of former Queens county. 



THE LEGISLATURE. 143 

Under this rule every part of the State has its representa- 
tive in the more popular branch of the legislature. Every 
county having a population of one and one- half times the 
ratio, or more, may have at least two assemblymen. The 
remaining assemblymen are apportioned among counties 
having a population of more than two ratios, and in pro- 
portion to the population of each. Thus New York 
county has now thirty-five assemblymen and Kings twenty- 
one ; while Queens and Richmond, making up the re- 
mainder of the city of New York, have three and one 
respectively. This gives New York exactly two fifths of 
the 150 assemblymen in the State; so that to defeat a 
measure urged by New York, the rest of the State must be 
pretty well united in opposition. 

The board of supervisors of any county, entitled to more 
than one assemblyman, divides the county into assembly 
districts. Where the county has no supervisors, and its 
limits are included within the limits of a city, the common 
council of the city divides the county. No town and no 
city block may be divided in forming assembly districts. 

Who May be Elected to the Legislature. — The people 
may elect any citizen of the State twenty-one years of age, 
to either the senate or assembly ; but no person may be a 
member of the legislature and hold at the same time an- 
other public office. The same is true of a person who, 
within one hundred days of his election as senator or 
assemblyman, has been a member of Congress, or a civil or 
military officer of the United States, or an officer of any 
city government. 1 These are rules adopted by the people 
to keep the lawmakers free from the influence of other de- 
partments of government, and free from national or local 
1 New York State Constitution, Article III., Section 8. 



i 4 4 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

influences that might interfere with their impartial action in 
favor of the State. 

How State Laws are Made. — First, a member of the 
senate or assembly draws up a proposed law, or "bill," as it 
is called. If in the assembly, the bill goes to the clerk of 
that body and from him to the speaker, who at the proper 
time announces its introduction and reads the title of the 
bill. This is called " the first reading of the bill." In the 
senate each senator personally introduces his own bills. 
After its "first reading" a bill in both senate and assembly 
is usually sent by the presiding officer to a committee pre- 
viously appointed by him to consider proposed laws upon 
similar subjects. 

Committees of the Legislature. — The members of each 
house — senate and assembly — are at the beginning of each 
session of the legislature, divided into committees to con- 
sider proposed laws. In the assembly the members com- 
posing such committees are named by the speaker; in the 
senate by the lieutenant governor or other presiding officer. l 
In both senate and assembly standing committees of from 
five to thirteen members each, are appointed on each of 
such subjects as finance, judiciary, affairs of cities, canals, 
commerce and navigation, insurance, railroads, taxation and 
retrenchment, internal affairs of towns and counties, public 
education, affairs of villages, agriculture, roads and bridges. 2 

1 The lieutenant governor is the constitutional president of the senate ; 
but the Constitution, Article III., Section io, provides that the senate shall 
choose a temporary president, in case of the absence or impeachment of the 
lieutenant governor, or in case he refuses to act as president, or is acting as 
governor. 

2 A complete list of the standing committees of senate and assembly, with 
the members composing them at any session of the legislature, may be found 
in the "Red Bool<," or State Legislative Manual for that particular year. 



THE LEGISLATURE. 145 

Besides its standing committees, each house may have a num- 
ber o\ select or special committees to consider matters out- 
side the lines of ordinarily proposed legislation. 

Work of the Legislative Committees. — When a bill, 
after its " first reading," has been referred to the proper 
committee its members proceed to hear the arguments both 
for and against it. These hearings may be public, and 
prominent men on both sides of the question may be invited 
to present their views. After sufficient consideration the com- 
mittee reports the bill either " favorably " or " unfavorably " 
to the house in which it originated. An " unfavorable" re- 
port is often sufficient to " kill the bill," that is, to prevent 
further action being taken in its favor ; but not always. 
Sometimes a committee makes no report on a bill unless 
ordered to do so by the house. Failure to report upon bills 
is an effective way of preventing much undesirable legisla- 
tion. 

Debating Proposed Laws. — When a bill has been form- 
ally reported to senate or assembly by the committee hav- 
ing it in charge, it may then be taken up section by section, 
debated, amended if thought necessary, and agreed to by a 
majority of the house. Such favorable action is called pass- 
ing a bill " on its second reading " ; or the bill may be de- 
feated, on motion to pass it on a second reading. A bill 
passed on its second reading is then printed in its final 
form, and it cannot be afterwards changed. In this final 
form the bill must lie for three legislative days (unless the 
governor certify that the bill should at once become a law) 
on the desks of the members of the house where it origi- 
nated, before it can be passed on its " third " or final read- 
ing. 1 This deliberation gives each legislator an opportunity 

1 New York State Constitution, Article III., Section 15. 



146 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

to examine carefully all bills before finally voting upon 
them. 

" Committee of the Whole." — Before its final passage on 
third reading, a bill is often considered and debated in what 
is termed " Committee of the Whole." The committee of 
the whole includes the entire senate, or the entire assembly. 
In committee of the whole the strict formal rules of the 
legislative body are laid aside, the speaker or other presid- 
ing officer leaves the chair, naming some member of the 
house to take his place, and free and informal debate upon 
the merits of the proposed law is indulged in. When such 
discussion is completed the committee of the whole resolves 
itself into senate or assembly, as the case may be, and the 
chairman of the committee reports what action has been 
taken. The committee of the whole cannot conclude any 
business and cannot adjourn; it is simply a legal fiction for 
securing freedom of debate. 

Bills Must Pass Both Houses. — A bill, after passing the 
house in which it originated, goes to the other house, where 
it is referred to the proper committee" to go through a pro- 
cedure similar to the one in the house where it originated. 
No bill may become a law, except by the assent of a ma- 
jority of the members elected to each branch of the legis- 
lature l and whenever public money is appropriated for any 
purpose, at least three fifths of the members of the house 
in which the vote is taken must be present. 2 Bills appro- 
priating public money for private purposes, must receive a 
two-thirds affirmative vote of the members elected to each 
legislative house, in order to become laws. 3 These re- 

1 New York State Constitution, Article III. Section 15. 

2 New York State Constitution, Article III., Section 25. 

3 New York State Constitution, Article III., Section 20. 



THE LEG IS LAIC RE. 147 

strictions are placed on the legislature by the people of the 
State, in order to prevent a careless and hasty spending of 
the public money. 

Action by the Governor on Bills. — Bills which pass in 
both senate and assembly^ go to the governor of the State 
for his signature. If the governor approves a bill, he signs 
it and it becomes the law. If he disapproves it, he returns 
it to the house in which it originated with a statement of 
his objections. This is called the " Governor's veto" of the 
bill. The bill may then be reconsidered, and if finally ap- 
proved by two thirds of the assembly and two thirds of the 
senate, it becomes a law without the governor's signature. 1 

If a bill sent to the governor, be not returned by him 
within ten days (Sunday not counted) after it is presented to 
him for his signature, it becomes a law without his signa- 
ture, if the legislature is still in session. On adjournment 
of the legislature, the governor has thirty days in which 
to consider unsigned bills in his possession. If he sign 
them within that time they become laws; if not they fail. 

The governor, though the head of the executive depart- 
ment, is thus an important part of the law-making power. 
For through his veto, he may prevent the passage of ill-ad- 
vised and hasty laws, by compelling their reconsideration by 
the legislature. 

What the Legislature May and May Not Do. — The leg- 
islature ma)- enact any general law, applying to the people 
of the whole State, that is not in conflict with the constitu- 
tion and laws of the United States 2 and the State constitu- 
tion. Similarly the legislature may also repeal any law 

1 New York State Constitution, Article IV., Section 9. 

2 For Acts forbidden a State by the Constitution of the United States, see 
" Acts Forbidden to the Governments of the Several States," Chapter XXII. 



148 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

previously enacted. Each legislative house makes its own 
rules, and judges of the qualifications of its members. The 
legislature is prohibited from enacting private or local laws 
in the following cases : 

Changing names of persons ; laying out or affecting roads or drain- 
ing swamps, locating or changing county seats ; locating or changing 
venue in civil or criminal cases ; incorporating villages ; providing 
for electing supervisors or summoning jurors ; regulating the rate of 
interest on money ; conducting elections ; creating or changing fees 
of public officers during their term ; granting the right to lay railroad 
tracks ; granting to any private corporation, association or individual 
any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise ; providing for build- 
ing bridges, except on the Hudson below Waterford, on the East 
River, or over waters forming the boundaries of the State. But the 
legislature may pass general laws applying to any of these subjects. 

The legislature may not audit or allow any private claim 
against the State, but it may grant money for the payment 
of claims, after they have been audited and allowed by the 
proper public officers. 

Freedom of Speech and the Legislature. — Each legisla- 
tive house, senate and assembly — .is the sole judge as to 
whether its members have been properly elected to it, and 
as to whether or not they are entitled to seats in it. No 
member of either house may be made to suffer under the 
law, for any speech he may make in the legislature, or for 
any information he may furnish to enable it to perform its 
duty to the people. This is a rule of law placed by the 
people of the State in the constitution 1 for the purpose of 
giving members of the law-making branch of the govern- 
ment absolute freedom in their discussions of what is for 
the best interests of the State. It is similar to a provision 

1 New York State Constitution, Article III., Section 12. 



THE LEGISLATURE. 149 

ill the English Bill of Rights of 1689, in which it was de- 
clared that " freedom of speech and debates or proceedings 
in parliament ought not to be questioned in any court or 
place out of parliament." 

Election of United States Senators. — An important duty 
of the legislature is the election of senators to represent the 
State in the United States senate. When a United States 
senator is elected the two houses sit in joint session — that is 
the senate and assembly meet as a single body — and vote at 
least once a day till a senator has been, chosen by a major- 
ity of the votes cast. 1 

Power to Impeach and Remove Public Officers. — 
A public officer guilty of wrongdoing, may be ttied and 
removed from office by what is called the process of im- 
peachment. In such cases the assembly makes a formal 
charge against the offending officer, reciting the facts of his 
wrongdoing. This charge is called the impeachment The 
impeachment is heard by the members of the State senate, 
the judges of the State court of appeals, and the lieutenant 
governor, sitting together as a court for the trial of impeach- 
ments. A majority of the senators' and judges must be 
present to constitute this court, and a two-thirds vote of all 
present is necessary to convict the accused public officer, 
who, if declared guilty, may be removed from his office and 
disqualified from holding any other office of honor, trust, or 
profit under the State. Besides his impeachment and re- 
moval from office, a public officer found guilty of wrong- 
doing may be punished like a common criminal, by sentence 
of the ordinary courts of the State. 

Other Legislative Powers. — It is provided by State law 
that the governor shall appoint many important public offi- 
1 See " Election of Senators," Chapter XXIII. 



150 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

cers, " by and with the advice and consent of the senate." 
Under this provision the governor names the persons to fill 
certain offices, sending these " nominations," as they are 
called, to the senate, which then, by majority vote, confirms 
or rejects them. This power of the senate to reject a 
nomination to office is an important check in preventing 
possible bad appointments. 

SUMMARY. 

Senators and assemblymen are apportioned among the 
people of the State on the basis of population. For this 
purpose a State census is taken every ten years. 

The ratio for apportioning senators is one fiftieth of the 
State's population, and the ratio for apportioning assembly- 
men is the whole population of the State divided by the en- 
tire number of assemblymen. 

Every county in the State, except Fulton and Hamilton, 
is entitled to at least one assemblyman ; and the supervisors 
of a particular county, entitled to more than a single assem- 
blyman, divide it into assembly districts. 

Any citizen of the State is generally eligible for the office 
of either senator or assemblyman ; but no man while a 
member of the State legislature may hold any other public 
office. 

Laws are made by their passing both senate and assem- 
bly by a majority vote in each. They are then signed by 
the governor. The governor may veto a proposed law, but 
it may be re-passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote of 
both senate and assembly. 

The legislature is prohibited by the constitution from en- 
acting private or local laws in many specified cases. The 
senators and assemblymen, sitting in joint session, elect 



THE LEGISLATURE. 151 

United States senators to represent the State in Congress. 
The assembly may bring impeachment cases against public 
officers before the senate, the judges of the court of appeals 
and the lieutenant governor, sitting together as a court for 
the trial of impeachments. The senate passes upon nomi- 
nations to office made by the governor. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

In what years, and for what purposes, is the State census 
taken ? 

What provisions in the constitution prevent New York 
city from ever obtaining a preponderance of power in the 
State legislature ? 

What two counties of the State are together allowed but 
one assemblyman ? 

What body divides a county into assembly districts? 

Why is a member of the State legislature not allowed to 
hold at the same time another office? 

What provision of the constitution guarantees freedom of 
debate in the legislature? 

Mention six steps in the passing of a law through the 
State legislature. What provision of the constitution en- 
sures deliberation in the passing of laws ? What special 
provision applies to the passing of bills appropriating public 
money ? 

Describe the work of standing committees of the legisla- 
ture. How are these committees named ? 

Describe in detail the action necessary to pass a bill over 
the governor's veto. 

Mention three cases in which the legislature may not 
pass private or local laws. 

How are private claims against the State allowed ? 



152 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

What is meant by impeachment ? For what purposes are 
impeachment proceedings brought? What body conducts 
such proceedings ? What persons constitute the court for 
the trial of impeachments ? 

What power has the senate to reject nominations made to 
office by the governor ? 



CHAPTER XV. 

The State's Executive Department. 

Among our German ancestors every tribe or nation had 
its head man. He led its army in battle and presided over 
its assembly in time of peace. When Angle, Saxon, Jute, 
and Dane crossed the North Sea and made their homes in 
Britain, the head man of the tribe became the petty king in 
the little English kingdom, which afterwards became the 
" shire." These little kingdoms, as we have seen, finally 
united in the greater kingdom of England, and one king 
ruled over the English people. The king, through his sub- 
ordinates, enforced the laws of the land ; and no general 
law could be made without his consent. The king had 
power to pardon criminals condemned for violating the law. 
He called the lawmakers together in parliament, and dis- 
missed them, much as he pleased. He appointed the chief 
judges and other officers of the realm. 

The governor of the modern American State has in- 
herited many of these attributes of kingship. He is the 
head of the State's executive department, and responsible 
for the enforcement of State law. He is commander in 
chief of the State's military forces. He has a veto power in 
its legislative department He has the royal power of 
pardoning criminals condemned by its courts. He takes 
the initiative in the appointment of many high State offi- 
cers. Yet, though he seems to be a great and glittering 
figure, the governor, like members of the legislature, can do 

Hoxie's N. Y.— 10 I53 



154 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

only those things permitted by the constitution. The gov- 
ernor's right to rule comes from the people, and under the 
law he is the people's chief servant. 

New York's Early Governors. — The first governors of 
territory included in what is now New York, were, as we 
have seen, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, 
and they represented the interests of this money-making 
corporation, rather than the interests of the people over 
whom they ruled. Under the English, the early governors 
represented at first the Duke of York, and afterwards the 
king of England. Like the Dutch governors, they cared 
little for the rights of the people. After the Declaration of 
Independence, when New York became one of the United 
States, the freeholders or landowners elected the governor. 
But their experiences under colonial governors made them 
suspicious of their elective governor, and they gave him at 
first no veto power in the legislature. Neither was he al- 
lowed to appoint any subordinate State officers, except as a 
member of a council of appointment, in which the governor 
had one vote out of five. When the State constitution was 
revised in 1 821, the people gave the governor the veto 
power, and the further power to appoint, by and with the 
advice and consent of the State senate, all judges except 
justices of the peace. Since then the office of judge has 
been made elective ; and the powers of the governor have 
been enlarged with almost every subsequent revision of the 
State constitution. 

Powers and Duties of the Governor. — The governor of 
New York is now elected by a plurality of the citizens vot- 
ing at the general State election held in even-numbered 
years. He holds office for two years, and receives an 
annual salary of $10,000. He has power to call together 



THE STATE'S EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 155 

the State legislature (or the senate alone) in extraordinary 
session, and one of his duties is to send a " message" to the 
legislature at every regular session of that body, describing 
the condition of the public business, and recommending the 
passing of such new laws as he may think wise. The gov- 
ernor may reprieve, pardon, or commute the sentence of 
any criminal convicted in the courts of the State. The gov- 
ernor is said to reprieve a criminal when he postpones the 
date of the execution of the sentence against him. He 
pardons the criminal when he forgives the offense and sets 
the offender free. He commutes the sentence when he 
makes the punishment lighter than the punishment fixed by 
the court. The only exceptions to this pardoning power of 
the governor, are in the case of a person convicted of treason, 
and in the* case of a public officer who has been impeached. 
In the former case the governor may suspend the execution 
of sentence till the next meeting of the legislature, and 
leave the final decision of the matter to that body. 1 The 
governor has power to suspend the State treasurer during a 
recess of the legislature, and to appoint a deputy treasurer 
in his place. This enables the governor to protect the 
moneys of the State from a dishonest and incompetent 
treasurer. 

The Lieutenant Governor. — The lieutenant governor is 
elected at the same time as the governor, in the same man- 

1 Ordinary crimes, such as murder, burglary, arson, etc., are committed 
directly against the individual and only indirectly against the State; while 
treason, on the other hand, is committed directly against the State. It 
strikes at the very existence of the political society which the subject is 
bound to defend. Therefore treason is a crime placed in a class by itself, 
and it is regarded as being most heinous because it aims to take the life of 
the State. Treason in New York consists in making war against the people 
of the State, or during war adhering to or aiding the enemies of the State. 



156 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

ner, and for the same term of office. His salary is $5,000 
annually. He takes the place of the governor, should the 
latter die, resign, be impeached, or otherwise become unable 
to perform the duties of his office. The lieutenant governor 
presides over the State senate, and he has a vote in that 
body in case of a tie. He is also, by reason of his office, a 
member of various boards of State officials. Both the gov- 
ernor and lieutenant governor must be citizens of the 
United States, must be at least thirty years old, and must 
have lived in the State for at least five years preceding their 
election. Like the members of the legislature, they may 
hold but one public office at a time. If both governor and 
lieutenant governor become at the same time incapable of 
performing their official duties, a president of the senate 
elected by that body, acts as governor ; and sholild the lat- 
ter become disqualified, the speaker of the assembly be- 
comes the acting governor. 

Other State Officers Elected by the Voters.— At the 
same time as the election of the governor and lieutenant 
governor, the voters of the State elect for terms of two years, 
the following officers of the State executive department : 
Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney-Gen- 
eral, and State Engineer and Surveyor. These officers re- 
ceive an annual salary of $5,000 each, except the comp- 
troller, whose salary is $6,000. They were at first appointed 
by the legislature, but since 1846 they have been chosen by 
the voters. 

The Secretary of State. — The secretary of state is the 
chief clerk of the State executive department. He has 
charge of public records and documents belonging to the 
State, and he supervises the printing of the laws passed by 
the legislature. He keeps the great seal of the State, and 



Till: STATE'S EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 157 

the original copies of deeds of lands belonging to the Slate. 
In general, the secretary of state maybe said to perform for 
the State such duties as are performed by the count}- clerk 
for the county, and by the town clerk for the town. \\\- 
office is not to be compared in dignity and importance with 
that of the United States officer known as the secretary of 
state. The latter is a member of the President's cabinet, 
and the chief officer in arranging our relations with foreign 
nations. 

The Comptroller. — The comptroller manages the finan- 
cial affairs of the State government, under the direction of 
the legislature and governor. He reports t«> the legislature 
the State's annual revenue and expenses, superintends the 
collection of State taxes, examines and audits claims and 
other accounts due to or from the State; and arranges for 
securing any temporal)' loans needed for carrying on the 
different departments of State government. No public 
money of the State may be paid out except upon the order 
or warrant of the comptroller directed to the State treasurer. 

The State Treasurer. — The State treasurer receives from 
the comptroller moneys collected from State taxes and from 
other sources, and pays out the money as ordered by the 
comptroller. I lis duties are similar to the duties performed 
by a count}', town, or city treasurer. 

The Attorney-General. — The attorney-general is the law- 
officer of the State government, and the State's chief public 
prosecutor. His duties to the State may be compared with 
the duties of district attorneys in the several counties. The 
attorney general conducts for the State all important suits 
or legal proceedings in which it is an interested part}-, and 
he prosecutes criminals before the supreme court, when 
requested to do so by the governor or by the judges of this 



I 5 g GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

court. The attorney-general is also the legal adviser of the 
State legislature and other State officers. 

The State Engineer and Surveyor. — The State engineer 
and surveyor has charge of the surveying and mapping of the 
public lands of the State. He also superintends the engi- 
neering department of the State canals. He must be a prac- 
tical civil engineer. 

State Executive Officers Appointed. — The governor, " by 
and with the advice and consent of the senate," appoints a 
large number of officers in the different branches of the 
State executive department Among the more important 
of these officers are : superintendent of public works, super- 
intendent of banks, superintendent of insurance, superintend- 
ent of State prisons, three tax commissioners, three State 
railroad commissioners, three civil service commissioners, 
commissioner of agriculture, commissioner of labor and two 
deputy commissioners, three forest, fish and game com- 
missioners, a State commissioner of health, State board of 
charities, three commissioners of lunacy, superintendent of 
public buildings, three quarantine commissioners, and a 
health officer of the port of New York. Although the 
State constitution requires the "advice and consent of 
the senate " in making these appointments, in actual 
practice this requirement is little more than a form, 
the governor's nominations to office being as a rule, con- 
firmed almost without question by the senate. The 
power of the senate to reject a nomination made by the 
governor is, however, an important one, and one that 
may be effectively used to prevent a bad man from taking 
office. 

Executive Officers Elected by the Legislature. — The 
members of the two houses of the legislature — senate and 



THE STATE'S EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 159 

assembly — sitting together in joint session, elect a State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction for a term of three 
years at an annual salary of $5,000. They also elect nine- 
teen Regents of the University of the State of New York. 
The State superintendent of public instruction and the re- 
gents have general supervision of schools and public edu- 
cation in the State. Their duties are described in detail in 
Chapter XVIII. 

The State Militia. — An important branch of the State 
executive department is the State militia. The militia 
consists of " all able-bodied male citizens between the ages 
of eighteen and forty-five who are residents of the State," 1 
except a few already considered to be acting in the public 
service, such as legislative and executive officers, judges, 
teachers, ministers, physicians, etc. Every member of the 
militia is a possible soldier, and the State legislature is re- 
quired by the constitution to maintain at all times a force of 
44 not less than ten thousand enlisted men, fully uniformed, 
armed, equipped, disciplined and ready for active service." 2 
This requirement is met at present by the voluntary enlistment 
of young men in regiments known as the National Guard. 
The members of the national guard choose their own local 
officers, and the State furnishes the men with arms and 
armories. The State militia, including the national guard, 
is under the command of the governor of the State, who 
appoints the chiefs of the staff, and, with the consent of the 
senate, the major general. The governor may call out the 
militia whenever necessary to suppress disorder or enforce 
the laws of the State. 

The State's Civil Service. — Outside of the possible mili- 

1 New York State Constitution, Article XL, Section I. 

2 New York State Constitution, Article XI., Section 3. 



160 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

tary service required of every citizen of the State, there are 
many persons employed in what is called the civil service 
of the State. This includes all public offices of the State not 
classified as naval or military. Officers in the State's civil 
service are either elected by the people or appointed by 
other officers. These appointed officers constitute by far 
the larger number of officeholders, and consist chiefly of 
persons occupying comparatively inferior positions, such as 
clerks in the legislative, executive and judiciary departments 
of the State and the various local governments. Up to 
within a few years ago this army of petty officeholders held 
their positions, not so much because of their peculiar fitness 
for holding office, as a reward for services rendered to some 
politician or political party. In this way, many unfit per- 
sons came into the public service and many abuses arose. 
In consequence, it became necessary to enact both national 
and State laws, regulating appointments to the civil service. 1 
Appointive officers are, under the State civil service law, 
divided into a " classified" and an " unclassified" list. Most 
of the more prominent appointive offices are in the unclassi- 
fied list, while the classified list is made up of minor offices. 
An applicant for a position in the classified list must pass 
an examination to determine his fitness for the position, and 
once appointed he cannot usually be removed from office 
except for good cause. Appointments in the State or local 
municipal civil service are made under supervision of, and 
in accordance with rules laid down by the State civil service 
commissioners, who have their headquarters at Albany. 
Different cities have local boards of civil service commis- 
sioners, each acting under the direction of the State com- 
missioners. 

1 See "The President and the Civil Service," Chapter XXIII. 



THE STATE'S EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 161 

Some State Executive Officers, their Powers and 
Duties. 1 — The State Superintendent of Public Works has 
general charge of the construction and repair of the State 
canals, and he sees to the execution of the laws relating to 
navigation upon them. 

The State Superintendent of Insurance has general super- 
vision of insurance companies doing business in the State, 
and these companies are required to report to him at least 
once a year on their financial condition, for the protection of 
persons doing business with them. 

The State Superintendent of Banks performs similar duties 
with reference to banks and trust companies doing business 
in the State. These institutions report to the superintendent 
of banks, and such reports, including the reports from in- 
surance companies, are laid before the State legislature. 

The Superintendent of State Prisons has the supervision, 
management, and control of the three State prisons in New 
York where persons convicted of grave crimes are confined. 
He appoints agents, wardens, physicians, and chaplains in 
these prisons, while the State comptroller appoints clerks 
employed in them. Persons convicted of lesser offences, as 
we have already learned, are confined in the county jails 
which are under the supervision of the sheriffs of the several 
counties. 

The Tax Commissioners visit the different counties of the 
State to determine the value of the taxable property in each 
county. The amount of property upon which the people 
of each county must pay State taxes, is finally determined 
by the State board of equalization. The duties of these of- 
ficers are more fully explained in Chapter XIX. 

1 For a table of public officers, their salaries and terms of office see Ap- 
pendix. 



1 62 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

The Slate Railroad Commissioners have a general over- 
sight of the railroads doing business in the State, including the 
horse and electric railroads. The commissioners investigate 
the causes of accidents, and look generally after the com- 
fort and safety of the travelling public. They may ex- 
amine the books and accounts of railroad companies, and it 
is their duty to report to the attorney- general any misman- 
agement or violation of the law by these companies. The 
commissioners may also decide upon the necessity of a pro- 
posed new railroad and give permission for it to be built. 
They report annually to the State legislature. 

The Commissioner of Agriculture collects facts and statis- 
tics relating to farming, and through his subordinates con- 
ducts Farmers' Institutes, where facts as to the best methods 
of cultivation are disseminated among the people. It is a 
part of the commissioner's duties to prevent the spread of 
infectious diseases among farm animals, fruit trees and bees, 
and also to prevent the adulteration of food products. The 
State Weather Bureau is under the management of the 
commissioner of agriculture. 

The Commissioner of Labor collects facts and statistics rel- 
ative to wages and conditions of laborers, and, in conjunc- 
tion with two deputy commissioners, conducts a bureau of 
factory inspection and a board of mediation and arbitration 
which is empowered to give advice in the settlement of 
disputes between employers and employees. 

The Forest, Fish and Game Commissioners have 
charge of fish hatcheries for stocking the streams and 
lakes of the State, and generally enforce the laws protect- 
ing fish and other game. They also supervise the vast 
quantity of wild forest land owned by the State in the 
Adirondack region and other places, wherein lie the 



THE STATE'S EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 163 

sources of the streams which supply water for the State 
canals. 

The State Board of Charities visits the reformatory and 
charitable institutions of the State, and the county and city 
poorhouses, where paupers are cared for at public expense, 
and reports on the condition of these institutions to the State 
legislature. 

The State Commissioner of Health, the quarantine com- 
missioners, and the health officer of the port of New York 
act together, under State law, to prevent the introduction 
and spread of disease. 

SUMMARY. 

The governor is the head of the State executive depart- 
ment, and the commander in chief of the State's military and 
naval forces. He has a veto power in the legislative de- 
partment. 

The governor is elected by a plurality of the votes cast 
for this office at a State election, and he holds office for two 
years at an annual salary of $10,000. 

The lieutenant governor takes the place of the governor on 
the death or disability of the latter. He is the presiding 
officer in the State senate, and he has a casting vote in that 
body in case of a tie. 

Other officers of the executive department elected by the 
voters of the State are : secretary of state, comptroller, treas- 
urer, attorney- general, and State engineer and surveyor. 

The governor, by and with the advice and consent of the 
senate, appoints such State executive officers as State super- 
intendent of public works, superintendent of banks, State 
railroad commissioners, etc. 

The legislature, in joint session, elects a State superin- 



1 64 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

tendent of public instruction and regents of the University 
of the State of New York. 

The State militia, including the national guard, are an im- 
portant feature of the State's executive department, under 
the control of the governor. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

When and by whom is the governor of New York 
elected ? 

What is meant by the governor's " Message" ? 

What powers has the governor in the case of a criminal 
convicted by the State courts ? 

In what cases is the governor unable to exercise his par- 
doning power ? 

Define treason against the State. 

What officers of the executive department besides gover- 
nor and lieutenant governor, are elected by the voters of the 
entire State ? 

In what important particular does the office of secretary 
of state in New York, differ from the national office of 
secretary of state ? 

How do the duties of the comptroller differ from those of 
the State treasurer ? 

With the duties of what county officer may we compare 
those of the attorney-general ? - 

Name six important State executive officers appointed by 
the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate ; 
two elected by the legislature. 

What is meant by the State militia ? How does it differ 
from the regular army ? 

What is meant by the State's civil service ? Describe the 



THE STATE'S EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. ■ 165 

duties of the State civil service commissioners. For what 
purpose have civil service examinations been instituted ? 

Describe the duties of State superintendent of public 
works, State superintendent of insurance, State superin- 
tendent of banks, State assessors, State railroad commis- 
sioners. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The Judiciary Department — How Criminals are 
Brought to Justice. 

A peaceable man walking along the street, is attacked 
by a highwayman, knocked down, and robbed of his purse. 
The robber hurries away, and the injured man crawls to the 
nearest house or to the police station, and tells the story of 
the crime. What is the duty of the State in such a case ? 
First, it is the duty of the peace officers of the vicinity, — 
sheriff, constables, or policemen — to search for the robber, 
and if they find him, to take him before the courts for the 
trial of his offense. 

Arrest by " Hue and Cry." — But the robber may even 
now be running from a pursuing policeman, who saw from 
a distance, his attack on the citizen. As the policeman 
hurries after the robber, he shouts to the people in front of 
him to stop the fleeing criminal. The law gives the police- 
man the right to demand this help, and all persons called 
upon are bound to give it. With shouts of " Stop thief!" 
the people take up the pursuit, and the robber is cornered 
and captured. Such pursuit and capture is called arresting 
a criminal by " hue and cry." It comes down to us from 
an old English custom, under which the people turned out 
with shouts and blowing horns to capture an escaping 
criminal. 

Arrest by "Warrant. — But suppose the robber escapes 
the arrest by " hue and cry ". What is to be done ? The 
1 66 



HOW CRIMINALS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. 167 

injured man, or some person knowing the facts, then goes 
before a magistrate, such as the judge of a court, or a 
mayor, tells him that a crime has been committed, and de- 
scribes as best he can the criminal. The magistrate, if he 
believes that a crime has been committed, issues, in the 
name of and by the authority of the people of the State, a 
paper called a warrant. The warrant is directed to a peace 
officer — sheriff, constable or policeman. It describes the 
criminal and directs the peace officer to arrest him and 
bring him before the magistrate. The robber may be dis- 
covered hiding in a building, by the officer having the war- 
rant. Still having the power to summon the people to his 
aid, the officer forces his way into the building, breaking 
down the door if necessary. He may shoot the robber and 
cripple him, if necessary, in order to make him submit. 
The law gives the officer power even to take the life of the 
criminal, rather than that he should escape, but the officer 
must use no unnecessary force. 

Rights of Accused Persons. — When the prisoner is 
brought before the magistrate, he must be told of the 
charges against him, and the facts tending to prove their 
truth. Every accused person is presumed by the law to be 
innocent until he is proven guilty, and the prisoner is not 
obliged to answer any questions that will tend to prove his 
guilt. Such is the rule inherited from the common law of 
England. The prisoner may be immediately examined by 
the magistrate, or the magistrate may, at the request of the 
prisoner, commit him to jail to await a future examination 
into his offense. The magistrate may also commit the 
prisoner when he finds himself unable to examine at once 
into the facts. 

The Right of Bail. — Instead of sending the prisoner to 



1 68 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

jail, the magistrate may, in certain cases described by law, 
give the prisoner into the keeping of his friends, on con- 
dition that they give a sufficient pledge of money or 
property for the prisoner's appearance in court at a future 
time to answer the charges against him. Such action on 
the part of a prisoner and his friends is called " giving 
bail " ; but a person accused of a capital offense, 1 such as 
murder, which is punishable by death, is not allowed to 
give bail. Should an accused person who has given bail, 
fail to appear in court at the time set for him to answer the 
charges against him, the property pledged for his appear- 
ance is forfeited to the State. But the forfeiture of the 
money does not protect the criminal. He may be again 
arrested, and in such case the magistrate would be justified 
in refusing to allow him to give bail a second time. 

Inquiring into the Charge Against the Prisoner. — 
If the offense charged against the prisoner be a minor one, 
or one which the magistrate before whom the prisoner is 
brought may finally try and determine, the formal trial of 
the prisoner may proceed without postponement or bail. 
If, however, the offense charged be an infamous crime, or 
one punishable by death, 2 it must be formally inquired into 
by a grand jury of the county where the crime was com- 
mitted. 

1 Capital, from the Latin " caput," meaning " the head." Literally a 
capital offense is one for which the punishment is loss of the head. 

2 Article I., Section 6, of the New York State constitution says : "No per- 
son shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime (except 
in cases of impeachment, and in cases of militia when in actual service, and 
the land and naval forces in time of war, or which this State may keep 
with the consent of Congress in time of peace, and in cases of petit larceny, 
under the regulation of the legislature) unless on presentment or indictment 
of a grand jury." 



HOW CRIMINALS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. 169 

The Grand Jury. — The grand jury is a body of men 
selected from among the taxpayers of the county, to in- 
quire into crimes supposed to have been committed therein. 
The supervisors of the several towns of the county make 
up a list of 300 men " of approved integrity, fair character 
and sound judgment," each supervisor furnishing names 
in proportion to the population of his town. The names 
are then written, each on a separate slip of paper, and put 
into what is called the grand jury box. When a court for 
the trial of criminals is to be held, the county clerk in the 
presence of the sheriff and county judge, draws at random 
from the grand jury box the names of twenty- four persons. 1 
These persons constitute the grand jury to inquire into 
crimes at a particular term of court. Not more than 
twenty-three nor less than sixteen grand jurymen are allowed 
to sit in any particular case, and it takes the votes of twelve 
to hold an accused person for trial. 

The Indictment. — The grand jury when inquiring into 
the facts of an alleged offense, sits in secret session. Before 
them may come the district attorney, who is the public 
prosecutor of criminals in the county. He presents to the 
jury a written accusation, called a bill of indictment, con- 
taining the charges against the person whose alleged offense 
the jury is investigating, and brings witnesses and evidence 

] Thirty-six in New York county. In all counties of the State having a 
population of 500,000 or more, the duty of making up the jury lists is in the 
hands of officers appointed by the courts and known as commissioner of 
jurors and special commissioner of jurors. Chapter 369 of the Laws of 
1895 a ' so creates the office of commissioner of jurors in each county having a 
population of 300,000 or more, except New York and Kings which already 
had such officers; while by chapter 194 of the laws of 1897 the office of 
commissioner of jurors is created in each county having a population between 
150,000 and 190,000, except the county of Albany. 
Hoxie's N Y.— 11 



i 7 o 



GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 



in support of the charges. If twelve of the grand jury, 
after hearing the evidence against the accused person., be- 
lieve it to be such as, if uncontradicted, would warrant a 
trial jury in convicting him, the foreman of the grand jury 
writes across the back of the indictment the words " A 
true bill," and returns the indictment to the court. The 
accused person must now be tried on the charges made in 
the indictment. If the grand jury does not think the evi- 
dence sufficient to hold him for trial, the indictment is 
returned to the court endorsed with the words, " Not a true 
bill." The accused person is then allowed to go free, or he 
may be held to await a new indictment. 

Origin of the Grand Jury and Its Presentment. — This 
custom of formal presentation of a bill of indictment against 
an accused person through a grand jury, may be traced to 
a period not very much later than the conquest of England 
by William of Normandy. 1 Almost immediately after the 

1 " The primitive Teutonic suit was a simple demand made by the actor on 
the defendant for compensation. . . . The demand and denial which 
made up the issue were unattended by any allegations of fact in support of 
either. The vitally important point in the procedure . . . was the ques- 
tion of proof. » . . Proof, as understood by the Teutonic barbarian, was 
not a judicial means of bringing conviction to the mind of the court ; it was 
simply a satisfaction due and given by the party to his adversary in the form 
prescribed by custom. . . . Three independent means of proof were 
allowable — oath, ordeal and documents. The oath could be accompanied or 
supported by the oaths of compurgators or oath-helpers, or by the oaths of 
witnesses. After the party making the proof had sworn to his demand, his 
oath-helpers swore to their belief, not in their chief's assertion, but in his 
credibility." . . ._ But "the conclusion is now firmly established that 
out of the inquest of proof, which was chiefly employed in judicial matters 
in suits relating to rights in land, was developed by the lawyers of the 
Plantagenet period the jury of judgment, the trial jury of modern times." — 
Hannis Taylor, Origin and Growth of the English Constitution, Book I., 
Chapter V. 



HOW CRIMINALS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. 171 

conquest, in connection with juries of inquest, previously 
described, 1 we find accusatory juries presenting offenses 
committed within their district or hundred to the king, or 
to his commissioned justices, who afterwards tried the per- 
sons thus accused, convicting or discharging them accord- 
ing as the evidence showed their guilt or innocence. From 
these ancient accusatory juries, is probably also derived our 
modern proceeding known as presentment by grand jury. 2 
In this proceeding the grand jury does not wait for a formal 
presentation to it of a bill of indictment against an accused 
person, but the jury itself takes the initiative against the 
offender, by sending to the court a written accusation known 
as the presentment. The presentment is employed in cases 
of public nuisance or wide-spreading evils. On receiving 
the presentment of a grand jury, the judge usually orders 
an indictment to be framed, and issues a warrant for the 
arrest of the alleged offenders. 

Appearance of Prisoner for Trial. — The grand jury, hav- 
ing returned to the court the indictment, endorsed with the 

1 See Chapter XL, " Personal Rights." 

2 Professor Stubbs in his Constitutional History of England, Volume I., 
Chapter XIII., Section 164, says that compurgators have nothing in common 
with the jury but the fact that they swear. Yet this is a step in the history 
of the jury. The first form in which the jury appears is that of witnesses. 
The whole system of recognition by sworn inquest was introduced into Eng- 
land by the Normans. Under this system the sworn recognitors were rather 
witnesses than judges ; they swore to facts within their own knowledge ; the 
magistrate to whom the inquest was entrusted was the inquirer, and he in- 
quired through the oath of men sworn to speak the truth, and selected in 
consequence of their character and local knowledge. Such was the instru- 
ment introduced in its rough simplicity at the conquest, and developed by 
the lawyers of the Plantagenet period into the modern trial jury. Henry II. 
expanded and consolidated the system. It became under his hand a part of 
the settled law of the land, a resource open to every suitor. 



172 GOVERNMENT OF NE IV YORK. 

words "A true bill," the person accused in the indictment 
must now appear in open court for formal trial of the offense 
charged against him. When charged with a felony, that is, 
with a crime punishable by confinement in a State's prison, 
the prisoner must be personally present in court ; when tried 
for a lesser offense, or a misdemeanor, 1 he need not be pres- 
ent himself but may be represented in court by his lawyers. 
The complaint against the prisoner is made out in the name 
of "The People of the State of New York " ; and the peo- 
ple, as complainant, are represented in court by the district 
attorney. 

The Arraignment and Plea. — The prisoner is now ar- 
raigned in open court before the judge. The indictment is 
read to him and he is required to answer to its charges. 
The prisoner may plead that he has been at some former 
trial in a court of law, already convicted or acquitted of the 
particular charge in the indictment; and if this is found to 
be true, the rule of the constitution that no man shall be 
" twice put in jeopardy for the same offense " applies, and 
the prisoner must go free. If the prisoner plead " Guilty " 
to the charge in the indictment, the judge sentences him to 
the punishment fixed by State law for his crime. If, how- 
ever, he plead " Not guilty " to the charge, a question of 
fact arises, and the prisoner has a right to demand that it 
be tried by a trial jury. 

Trial by Jury. 2 — A trial jury is a body of twelve 

1 All crimes which are neither treason, directed against the life of the 
State, nor felony, are misdemeanors. Crimes may be classified as felonies 
or misdemeanors by the State legislature. 

2 The jury of presentment, is also according to Stubbs, a creation of Henry 
II. It was brought into close connection with the system of compurgation, 
the jurors who presented the list of criminals representing the compurgators 
of the accuser. " As a matter of history it seems lawful to regard the pre- 



HOW CRIMINALS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. 173 

men 1 selected from among the people of the county, where the 
crime is committed or triable, and sworn to decide accord- 
ing to the evidence, the issue of fact (in libel cases the issue 
of law also) that has arisen between the people and the ac- 
cused. Trial jurors are selected from lists of property own- 
ers furnished by the supervisors, town clerks and assessors. 
They must be between the ages of twenty-one and seventy, 
must be citizens of the United States and residents of the 
county in which they are drawn to serve as jurymen. As 
in the case of the selection of grand jurymen, the county 
clerk 2 draws the names of thirty-six men to serve as trial 
jurors at a particular term of court; and twelve are chosen 
as a trial jury in a particular case. Before this jury the 
district attorney presents the people's case against the per- 
son accused. The prisoner defends himself through his 
lawyer, who is an officer of the court, producing the evi- 
dence of witnesses, if he has any, in support of his defense. 

sentment as a part of the duty of the local courts for which an immemorial 
antiquity may be claimed, with at least a strong probability." The same 
author also says that at an early period, before the abolition of the trial by 
ordeal, by the Lateran Council of 12 15, a petit jury was allowed to disprove 
the truth of the presentment, and after the abolition of the ordeal that ex- 
pedient came into general use. The further change in the character of the 
jury, by which they became judges of fact instead of witnesses, is common to 
the civil and criminal jury alike. "As it became difficult to find jurors per- 
sonally well informed as to the point at issue, the jurors summoned were 
allowed at first to add to their number persons who possessed the requisite 
knowledge, under the title of Afforcement. After this proceeding had been 
some time in use the afforcing jurors were separated from the uninformed 
jurors, and relieved them altogether from their character of witnesses. The 
verdict of the jury no longer represented their previous knowledge of the 
case, but the result of the evidence afforded by witnesses of the fact ; and 
they became accordingly judges of the fact, the law being declared by the 
presiding officer acting in the king's name." 

1 Six in courts of a justice of the peace. 2 See note page 169. 



i 7 4 GOVERNMENT Of NEW YORK. 

Poor prisoners unable to hire a lawyer are assigned one by 
the court to help in their defense ; and when it can be 
shown that there is a probability of the people of a county 
being so prejudiced against the prisoner that a jury of the 
county cannot render a fair and impartial decision, a trial 
jury may be selected from an adjoining county ; or the trial 
itself may be removed to another county. Such removal is 
called " a change of venue." l 

The Judge's " Charge." — The judge rules upon questions 
of law as they arise in the trial of the prisoner; and at the 
close of the trial "charges" the jury, explaining the law 
governing the matter and reviewing any evidence which he 
thinks necessary to a clear understanding of the subject. 

The Verdict. — The jury then retires behind closed doors, 
and deliberates in secret upon the probable guilt or inno- 
cence of the prisoner. The agreement of the entire twelve 
jurymen is necessary to convict or acquit the prisoner. The 
jury must find the prisoner "Not guilty," if after hearing all 
the evidence its members have a reasonable doubt of his 
guilt. The formal decision of a trial jury, delivered in open 
court, for or against a prisoner, is called " The Verdict of 
the Jury." If a trial jury cannot agree upon a verdict of 
" Guilty " or " Not guilty," the accused person must have 
another trial before a new jury, till he is either convicted or 
acquitted. 

The Sentence. — After a verdict of " Guilty " the judge 
pronounces upon the prisoner, the sentence fixed by State 
law as a punishment for his offense. The judge is usually 
allowed to use his judgment as to whether the prisoner shall 
be made to suffer a maximum or a minimum penalty. Old 

1 Venue is from the Latin " vicinia," or the Norman French, "visne," 
meaning neighborhood. 



110 11' CRIMINALS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. 175 

and hardened offenders are usually given the maximum 
penalty allowed by the law, while young criminals, whose 
offenses are accompanied by mitigating circumstances, are 
given a penalty less than the maximum. In some cases the 
judge suspends the enforcement of the sentence during the 
good behavior of the person convicted. If the verdict of the 
jury be " Not guilty," the judge discharges the prisoner, and 
he cannot be tried again for the offense. 

Appeals. — A prisoner may appeal from a jury's verdict 
of " Guilty " to a higher court, and ask for a new trial of his 
case, on the ground of error committed in the first trial, or 
of a verdict not in accordance with the law or the evidence. 
The higher court appealed to, after reviewing the proceed- 
ings in the lower court, will, if it thinks no error has been 
committed, dismiss the appeal, in which case the prisoner 
must suffer the penalty imposed by the judge's sentence in 
the lower court. But if the higher court finds the error 
complained of it will order a new trial of the prisoner before 
the lower court. 

These proceedings in the trial of criminals have most of 
them come down to us, either directly or in a modified 
form, from the customs of the early English law. Taken 
together, they constitute the " due process of law " of our 
State constitution, without which no person may be de- 
prived of his life, liberty, or property. They also show the 
exceeding care with which the descendants of our free 
Teutonic ancestors guard the sacred personal liberty of even 
the worst of criminals, that no wrong may be done to any 
person. Here we see what is meant by the famous clause 
of Magna Charta, repeated in so many charters and constitu- 
tions of the English-speaking people, that " No freeman 
shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or brought to 



176 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

ruin, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the 
law of the land." 

SUMMARY. 

Offenders against the law are arrested by the officers of 
the executive department, and are tried before the courts of 
the judiciary department. 

A person accused of crime is held to be innocent until 
proven to be guilty. He has the right, in many instances 
when arrested, to "give bail" for his future appearance in 
court to answer the charges against him. 

Charges of infamous crime against a person must be pre- 
sented in the form of an indictment by a district attorney to 
a grand jury of the county where the offense is triable. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Describe two ways in which a criminal may be arrested. 

What is a warrant of arrest ? By whom is it issued ? 
What facts must it contain ? To whom is it directed ? 

Describe the right of bail. For what offenses are prison- 
ers not allowed to give bail ? 

What is a grand jury ? How is it selected ? Describe its 
duties. 

State the difference between a bill of indictment and a 
presentment. 

What is meant by the prisoner's " plea " ? 

Describe the trial jury. Tell how it is selected. De- 
scribe its duties in court, on the trial of a prisoner. 

Explain the meaning of "judge's charge," "verdict," 
•' sentence," " appeal," as used in trials at law. When will 
a higher court order a new trial? 



HOW CRIMINALS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. 177 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

On "The origin of the Jury," see Green's Short History of the 
English People, Chapter II., Section 8, " Trial by Jury," and the same 
work, Chapter IV., Section 4, "The English Towns." See also the 
works of Stubbs and Hannis Taylor on the constitutional history of 
England, under the index title "jury." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Judiciary Department — Civil Suits at Law. 

Two farmers, living side by side, have a dispute about the 
division line between their farms. Each claims to own the 
same piece of land; each believes himself right; neither 
will yield, and there is a long and bitter quarrel. Who is to 
decide the matter finally and put the rightful owner into 
possession of his property ? If the farmers can come to no 
agreement, they may take the matter into a court of law. 
Here each will present the facts supporting his own claim to 
the land, with the testimony of any witnesses in his favor, 
and leave the truth to be determined by process of law. 
Such a suit at law, involving the ownership of property, is 
called a civil suit, to distinguish it from a criminal suit, such 
as described in the last chapter. Much of the time of the 
judiciary officers of State and local governments is spent in 
hearing and determining the facts in civil suits at law. 

Proceedings in Civil Suits at Law. — The person who 
begins a civil suit at law is called the plaintiff. In a paper 
called the complaint, he presents to the court an outline of 
the facts in support of his claim, and prays that the judg- 
ment of the court may be given in his favor. The person 
opposed to the plaintiff in the suit is called the defendant. 
In a written answer the defendant opposes the claim of the 
plaintiff. Should the defendant fail to answer the complaint, 
and should he fail to appear in court, after he has been 
served with a legal paper called a summons, in which he is 
178 



CIVIL SUITS AT LAW. 179 

ordered to appear and answer, the plaintiff may prove the 
truth of his claim, by the testimony of himself and his wit- 
nesses ; after which the judge will order the sheriff or other 
executive officers to put him in possession of the rights 
which were in dispute. If, however, the defendant answers 
the plaintiff's complaint, denying its statements, an issue of 
fact arises, the truth of which may be determined, as in a 
criminal suit, by a trial jury. The jury after hearing both 
sides, gives its verdict, and the judge orders the party found 
to be in the right, to be put in possession of the disputed 
property. 

The Courts as Interpreters of the Law. — Besides de- 
ciding questions in dispute between individuals, the courts 
are often called upon to decide on the meaning and ap- 
plication of various laws. A bill passes the legislature and 
is signed by the governor, in which different persons who 
are interested in the rights affected by it, read quite differ- 
ent meanings. One man understands the statute 1 to mean 
one thing ; another quite a different thing. Who is to decide 
what it really does mean ? As in the case of the farmer's 
dispute over the land, the courts must decide ; and a de- 
cision is obtained by some one bringing a suit to determine 
his rights under the disputed law. 

Statutes May Be " Constitutional " or " Unconstitu- 
tional." — Suppose, for example, the State legislature passes 
a bill declaring the business of slaughtering animals within 
any city to be a nuisance, dangerous to the health of the 
people, and orders such slaughtering stopped. Butchers, 
who have built large and expensive slaughterhouses, sud- 
denly find themselves deprived of the lawful right to use 

1 A bill after passing the legislature, and being signed by the governor, is 
called a statute. 



i So GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

their property. If they obey the law they must sell or dis- 
pose of their buildings as best they can, and remove their 
business outside the city. But perhaps they pay no atten- 
tion to the prohibitory statute. In that case a suit may be 
brought against the butchers by the district attorney, charg- 
ing them with violating the law. The butchers may defend 
the suit, pleading that the statute prohibiting slaughtering is 
not in accordance with the fundamental law ; that they are 
being deprived of their property without the " due process 
of law" required by the constitution. An issue of law now 
arises between the people of the State and the butchers, 
which must be decided by the courts. If the highest court, 
having the right to try and determine the matter decides 
the statute to be in harmony with the constitution, the 
butchers must close up their slaughterhouses, or take them 
outside the city limits. But if the court decides the statute 
to be not in accord with the constitution, it is void, and no 
man is bound to obey it. 

Courts Enumerated — Courts of Justices of the Peace. — 
Let us briefly consider the different courts, established by 
the people of the State, to do the important work above de- 
scribed. 

The lowest courts — and those nearest to the people — are 
the courts presided over by justices of the peace. The peo- 
ple of each town elect four justices of the peace for terms of 
four years each. This is required by State law. A jus- 
tice of the peace holds two courts — a court for the trial of 
civil suits, called a Justice's Court ; and a court for the trial 
of petty criminals, called a Court of Special Sessions. As 
a general rule no civil suit may be tried in a justice's court, 
when the amount sued for exceeds $200. In courts of spe- 
cial sessions certain small offenses enumerated by State law 



CIVIL SUITS AT LAW. 181 

may be tried, but persons accused of crime before a justice 
of the peace, usually give bail to await the action of a grand 
jury in a higher court. Issues of fact in a court presided 
over by a justice of the peace, are determined by a justice's 
jury, composed of six citizens and freeholders of the town. 
The constable summons twelve men from the jury list of the 
town, to appear in court, and six of them are drawn to sit in 
a particular case. Justices of the peace are paid in " fees," 
fixed by State law, for services performed. 

County Courts. — The court next above those of a justice 
of the peace, is the county court, and an appeal from the 
decision of a justice of the peace may be heard before the 
county judge, who presides over the county court ; but the 
principal business of the county court is in trying cases too 
important to be heard in the courts of justices of the peace. 
Each of the sixty-one counties of the State, except New 
York county, l has a county court presided over by a county 
judge, who is elected for a term of six years by the voters of 
his county, and who is paid out of the county treasury. The 
county judges receive different salaries, fixed by State law, in 
the different counties. All crimes, except those punishable 
by death, may be tried in a county court. Civil suits, in 
which the sum sued for does not exceed $2,000, may be 
tried in a county court. Issues of fact in a county court are 
determined by a trial jury of twelve men selected as in the 
case of a criminal trial. 



1 The Court of General Sessions in New York county and the City Court of 
New York take the place of a county court. The former has jurisdiction 
mainly in criminal cases, including crimes punishable by death, and the lat- 
ter in civil cases where the amount sued for does not exceed $2,000. 
King's county has two county judges and the jurisdiction of its county court 
extends to crimes punishable by death. 



1 82 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

The Supreme Court. — Next above the county court is 
the supreme court. This is in many respects the most im- 
portant court of the State. Before it may be tried all grave 
crimes against the laws of the State and all important civil 
suits. For convenience in administering justice through 
the supreme court, the State is divided into four judicial de- 
partments, and these in turn are divided into eight judicial 
districts. The first judicial department and the first judicial 
district are co-extensive, and embrace the county of New 
York. The second judicial department also coincides with 
the second judicial district, which includes Kings, Queens, 
Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, Put- 
nam, Orange and Dutchess counties. The third judicial de- 
partment includes the third, fourth and sixth judicial dis- 
tricts ; and the fourth judicial department, the fifth, seventh, 
and eighth judicial districts. 1 There are seventy-six su- 
preme court judges, and they are elected by the voters of the 
eight judicial districts for terms of fourteen years each, as 
follows : First district, twenty-two judges ; second district, 
twelve judges ; third, fourth and sixth districts, six judges 



1 The third judicial department includes the third judicial district, embrac- 
ing Columbia, Rensselaer, Sullivan, Ulster, Albany, Green, and Schoharie 
counties ; the fourth judicial district embracing Warren, Saratoga, St. Law- 
rence, Washington, Essex, Clinton, Franklin, Montgomery, Hamilton, Ful- 
ton, and Schenectady counties ; and the sixth judicial district embracing 
Otsego, Delaware, Madison, Chenango, Tompkins, Broome, Chemung, 
Schuyler, Tioga, and Cortland counties. The fourth judicial department in- 
cludes the fifth judicial district embracing Onondaga, Jefferson, Oneida, 
Oswego, Herkimer, and Lewis counties ; the seventh judicial district em- 
bracing Livingston, Ontario, Wayne, Yates, Steuben, Seneca, Cayuga, and 
Monroe counties; and the eighth judicial district embracing Erie, Chautau- 
qua, Cattaraugus, Orleans, Niagara, Genesee, Allegany, and Wyoming coun- 
ties. 



CIVIL SUITS AT LA IV. 183 

each ; fifth and seventh districts, seven judges each ; eighth 
district, ten judges. 

Supreme Court — Trial and Special Terms.— In each 
county of the State there are held at certain designated 
times, trial terms of the supreme court, each presided over 
by a single supreme court judge. At these trial terms civil 
and criminal cases are tried with the aid of a trial jury. 
Civil suits are also tried by the judge without the aid of a 
jury, if the parties to the suit so agree. In each county 
also the supreme court holds special terms, presided over by 
a single judge, who hears and decides various legal motions 
without the aid of a jury. The supreme court, both at trial 
term and special term, acts as a court of original jurisdic- 
tion, that is, it hears cases and motions originally presented 
to it and not on appeal from the decisions of the lower 
courts. 

Supreme Court — Appellate Division. — In each of the 
four judicial departments there is an appellate division of 
the supreme court, composed of certain judges selected by 
the governor from among the seventy-six supreme court 
judges of the State. Seven judges constitute the appellate 
division in the first judicial department, and five constitute 
the appellate division in each of the other departments. 
The appellate division of the first department sits in the 
city of New York (borough of Manhattan) ; the second 
department, in the borough of Brooklyn ; the third depart- 
ment, at Albany; and the fourth department, at Rochester. 
Terms of this court may be held in other places whenever 
the judges of a department deem that the public interests 
will be served thereby. Appeals from decisions of the 
county courts, and from the trial and special terms of the 
supreme court, in any judicial department, are heard in the 



1 84 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

appellate division of the supreme court of the department. 
Judges of the appellate division are appointed for terms of 
five years each. 

The Court of Appeals. — Highest above all these courts, 
and the court of last resort in questions arising under the 
State law, is the court of appeals. This court is composed 
of seven justices — one chief justice and.six associate justices, 
elected by the voters of the entire State for terms of four- 
teen years each, at annual salaries of $13,700 each, (the chief 
justice, $14,200); and the governor may appoint not more 
than four supreme court judges to sit temporarily as asso- 
ciate justices in this court. The court of appeals reviews 
questions of law brought up to it from the appellate divi- 
sions of the supreme court. No questions of fact are re- 
viewed by the court of appeals, except in criminal cases 
where the sentence is death. Five justices of the court of 
appeals constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of at least 
four is necessary to a decision. The decisions of the court of 
appeals, with the arguments and explanations of its judges, 
constitute the final interpretation of the law of the State. 
There is no higher court in the land, except the supreme 
court of the United States. 

Coroners' and Surrogates' Courts. — Besides the courts 
above described, there is in each county a coroner's court, 
held for the purpose of inquiring into the causes of sudden 
and suspicious deaths. The coroner may summon witnesses 
before him and examine them, and he may issue a war- 
rant for the arrest of any person who may be charged with 
the commission of the crime under investigation. Coroners 
formerly had power to summon a jury in connection with 
their investigations which are termed " Coroner's Inquests " ; 
but this power was abolished by State law in 1899, except 



CIVIL SUITS AT LAW. 1S5 

in case of inquests held in a county situated wholly or 
partly in a city of the first class, when not less than nine nor 
more than fifteen persons, qualified to serve as jurors, may 
be summoned by the coroner. 

Each county has a court presided over by a surrogate 
who takes proof of the wills of deceased persons, and at- 
tends to the settlement and division of the estates of per- 
sons who die without having made a will. This court also 
appoints guardians for the care of the persons and property 
of minors. In counties having a population of less than 
forty thousand, the county judge performs the duties of 
surrogate. 

Courts "of Record" and " Not of Record." — A number 
of cities also have minor civil and criminal courts specially 
allowed them by State law. 1 The surrogate's court, county 
court, supreme court and court of appeals are Courts of 
Record. That is, each has its official seal and an official 
clerk, who keeps a detailed record of its proceedings. 
Courts of justices of the peace, coroner's courts, and most 
minor courts of cities, are designated as Courts Not of 
Record. 

The Court for the Trial of Impeachments. 2 — Differing 
from the law courts above described, is the court for the 
trial of impeachments. This court tries, and if found 
guilty, removes from office high public officials, especially 
judges, who, by reason of their offenses, are no longer fit 
to serve the people in the offices which they hold. Im- 
peachment cases are brought by the assembly and are tried 
before the State senate and its president, and the judges of 

'The courts of the city of New York are described in Chapter VI., 
"Greater New York." 

a See also Chapter XIV., "The Legislature." 
Hoxie's N. Y — 12 



iS6 




CIVIL SUITS AT LAW. 1S7 

the court of appeals, sitting together as a court of impeach- 
ment. A two-thirds vote of this court is necessary to con- 
vict and remove an official from office. When the governor 
or lieutenant governor is tried before the court for the trial 
of impeachments, the latter official does not, for obvious 
reasons, sit as a member of the court. 

Court of Claims. — A State cannot be sued in a court of 
law by one of its own citizens, or by the citizens of another 
State ; but any one having a claim against the State may 
take it to the court of claims, and if the court finds the claim 
to be valid, it must be paid after deducting any just claim 
of the State. This court consists of three judges of claims 
appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and 
consent of the senate, for terms of six years each, at annual 
salaries of $5,000 each. The court of claims holds four ses- 
sions a year at the State capitol at Albany. 1 Appeals from 
its decisions may be made to the appellate division of the 
supreme court. A State may be sued however by another 
State, the suit being brought in a United States court; but 
no private person is allowed to bring suit against any one 
of the United States. 

General Provisions. — No judge of the court of appeals or 
of the supreme court may hold at the same time another 
public office, and no judge except a justice of the peace, 
may accept any fee for the performance of his public duties. 
This latter provision is intended to keep the judges free 
from the temptation to entertain any legal proceedings, or 
to perform, as judges, any acts that might increase their 
own personal incomes. No person may hold the office of 
judge longer than until and including the last day of Decem- 
ber next after he shall be seventy years of age. 

1 Laws of 1897, Chapter 36. 



1 88 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

SUMMARY. 

Besides trying persons accused of crime, the courts of the 
judiciary department hear and determine questions of private 
rights in dispute between individuals. 

Questions of private rights are brought before the courts 
in civil suits at law, in which the aggrieved person is the 
plaintiff, and his opponent is the defendant. 

The courts also act as interpreters of the law, and they 
decide whether or not statutes enacted by the legislature 
are in accord with the constitution. 

The courts, beginning with the lowest, include in regular 
order, courts of justices of the peace and the local courts of 
cities, county courts, the supreme court and the court of 
appeals. 

Appeals are made from decisions of the lower courts to 
the higher courts. 

The courts also include a coroner's and surrogate's court 
in each county, the State court of claims, and the court for 
the trial of impeachments. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is a civil suit at law ? How does it differ from a 
criminal trial ? 

Explain the meaning of the word plaintiff. Defendant. 
Summons. Issue of fact. 

Under what circumstances and by whom may a statute 
of New York be legally declared to be unconstitutional ? 
Must an unconstitutional statute be formally repealed by the 
legislature ? 

Give an account of the two courts of a justice of the 
peace. How many and what persons may constitute a jury 
in the court of a justice of the peace ? 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Public Schools. 

The laws of New York require the children living within 
the State to attend some school regularly. Under these 
laws public schools have been opened in every part of the 
State, where free instruction is given to children between the 
ages of five and eighteen years. Should any child in the 
State, able to go to school, fail to attend one of these free 
public schools, his parent or guardian must show to the sat- 
isfaction of the school officers, that the child is receiving 
regular instruction elsewhere, equivalent to the instruction 
in the free public schools. 

Why does the law provide for free public schools, and 
compel the children of the State to attend regularly some 
school? Because every male citizen, twenty-one years old 
and over, and otherwise qualified, has been given the right 
to vote at public elections held within the State. At these 
elections public officers are chosen to make, interpret, and 
enforce the State laws. Thus every voter, as he puts his 
ballot into the box on election day; helps to determine the 
kind of government under which we all live. It is su- 
premely important that the voter shall be sufficiently in- 
telligent and well-informed to cast a ballot for the best in- 
terests of the State. Such intelligence and information the 
State aims to develop by its system of free public schools, 
and its law requiring the children to attend school. 

The State's Public School System. — The free public 

189 



1 90 GOVERNMENT 0E NEW YORK. 

schools of New York are carried on under both State and 
local laws. The State constitution 1 directs the legislature 
to " provide for the maintenance and support of a system of 
free common schools, wherein all the children of this State 
may be educated." This has been done by placing pro- 
visions in the charters of the cities and villages, providing for 
free public schools to be carried on, usually under the direc- 
tion of a local board of education and a local superintendent 
of schools ; while outside of cities and villages the State is 
divided into districts, each under an officer known as the 
School Commissioner. A school commissioner is elected 
every three years by the voters of his district, and has gen- 
eral supervision, subject to State law, of the free common 
schools within his district. Every school commissioner's 
district is in turn divided into school districts, in each of 
which there is maintained a free common school, supported 
partly by the people of the district and partly by the State. 
These are the schools carried on in the "little red school- 
houses" that dot the hillsides and stand like sentinels at the 
country crossroads, each under its own proudly waving 
[* stars and stripes," all over the Empire State. Over all 
these — school commissioners, school districts, boards of 
education, city and country schools — there is a State super- 
intendent of public instruction elected by the legislature, for 
a term of three years, with an annual salary of $5,000. He 
is the head of the free school system of the State and the 
last resort in all disputes affecting the public schools. 

The School Commissioner and His Duties. — Every 
county in the State, outside of those composing New York 
city, has one or more school commissioners' districts, lying 
wholly within the county. The school commissioner is 

1 Article IX., Section I. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 191 

partly a State and partly a local officer. The State pays 
each commissioner a salary of $1,000 annually 1 and the 
board of supervisors of the county in which the school com- 
missioner has his duties, may increase this salary, the in- 
crease coming out of the treasuries of the towns composing 
the commissioner's district. This board also has power to 
divide a school commissioner's district that contains over 
one hundred school districts, and to make an additional dis- 
trict out of the territory, which, of course, calls for the elec- 
tion of an additional school commissioner. The school 
commissioner may divide his commissioner's district into a 
convenient number of school districts, each to have its free 
common school. 

It is the commissioner's duty to supervise the free com- 
mon schools of his district and to see that proper instruction 
and discipline are maintained in them. Under the direction 
of the State superintendent of public instruction he also ex- 
amines and licenses would-be teachers. He may condemn 
a public schoolhouse as unfit for use and order the people 
of the district to repair it or to build a new one ; but the 
people may appeal from his decision, first to the supervisor, 
and then to the State superintendent of public instruction. 
An\- person of full age, a citizen of the United States and a 
resident of his school commissioner's district is eligible for 
the office of commissioner. Women are frequently chosen, 
and some of our best commissioners have been women, 
formerly teachers in the free common schools. 

The School District and Its Government. — For school 
purposes the State has made each school district a self-gov- 
erning unit, in many respects similar to the self-governing 
municipal corporations of town, village, city and county. 

1 lie is also allowed S200 for travelling expenses. 



192 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

The law-making power of the school district is the School 
District Meeting, All citizens of full age, irrespective of sex, 
who live in the district, who send one or more children to 
the district school, or who own property in the district liable 
to be taxed for school purposes x are lawful voters at these 
school district meetings. The regular annual school dis- 
trict meeting is held on the first Tuesday in August, usually 
in the district schoolhouse. It elects by ballot, of the ma- 
jority of the voters present, the following executive officers 
of the school district : One or three trustees, a district clerk, 
a collector, and a treasurer. 

All of these officers must be residents of the school dis- 

1 Voters at School District Meetings. — Title VII., Article I., Section 
1 1, of the Consolidated School Law of New York State thus describes the 
qualifications of voters at school district meetings: ".Every person of 
full age residing in any school district who has resided therein for a period 
of thirty days next preceding an annual or special meeting held therein, and 
a citizen of the United States who owns or hires or is in the possession, under 
a contract of purchase, of real property in such school district liable to taxa- 
tion for school purposes ; and every such resident of such district, who is a 
citizen of the United States, of twenty-one years of age, and is the parent of a 
child or children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have at- 
tended the district school in said district for a period of at least eight weeks 
within one year preceding such school meeting; and every such person not 
being the parent, who shall have permanently residing with him or her a 
child or children of school age, some one or more of whom shall have at- 
tended the district school in said district for a period of at least eight weeks 
within one year preceding such school meeting; and every such resident and 
citizen as aforesaid, who owns any personal property, assessed on the last 
preceding assessment roll of the town, exceeding fifty dollars in value, ex- 
clusive of such as is exempt from execution, and no other shall be entitled to 
vote at any school meeting held in such district, for all school district, officers 
and upon all matters that may be brought before said meeting. No person 
shall be deemed to be ineligible to vote at any such school district meeting, 
by reason of sex, who has one or more of the qualifications required by such 
section." 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



193 



trict, and qualified voters at the district meeting ; and they 
must also be able to read and write. They hold office for 
one year, except where the district elects three trustees, in 
which case the term of a trustee is three years, one trustee 
going out of office each year. 

Powers of the School District Meeting. — Besides the 
power to elect district officers, a school district meeting has 
power to fix the amount of bonds which the collector and 
treasurer shall give for the faithful performance of their 
work ; power to designate, with the consent of the school 
commissioners, a site for a schoolhouse l ; power to vote a 
tax upon the taxable property of the district for school 
sites, supplies, buildings, and furniture; for school apparatus 
not exceeding twenty-five dollars in one year, for school 
libraries, and for teachers' wages. A special law governs 
school districts containing more than 300 children of school 
age. 

The School Trustee. — The State law makes the trustee or 
trustees of a school district a corporate body, or board, for 
the purpose of holding and managing the school property of 
the district ; and the trustee is the chief executive officer of 
the school district. The trustee may call special meetings 
of the school district voters. He makes out a list of persons 
in the district who are liable to pay taxes for school pur- 
poses, putting the amount of each person's school tax op- 
posite his name on the tax list, and directs the district col- 
lector to collect this tax. He may also raise by direct tax 
any reasonable sum needed to pay teachers' wages. He 
buys or leases property for school purposes, and purchases 
school apparatus, as directed by the district meeting ; hires 
the teachers who teach in the district school ; makes rules 

1 School sites may be chosen also at special district meetings. 



i 9 4 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

for the government and discipline of the school ; and pre- 
scribes its course of study, subject to the State laws govern- 
ing these matters, and to the general supervision of the 
school commissioner and the State superintendent of public 
instruction. 

Union Free School Districts. — Under directions laid 
down by State law, the voters of any school district, or the 
voters of adjoining districts voting to consolidate their school 
districts, may establish a union free school, and elect a board 
of education of from three to nine members, having generally 
the powers and duties of school trustees. This board may 
establish an academic department in the union free school 
for higher instruction under the supervision of the State 
board of regents. In villages of the first class, and in union 
free school districts of sufficient population, the board of 
education may elect a local superintendent of schools. 

Money for the Schools. — Besides the moneys voted at 
school district meetings, the State distributes each year large 
sums for the support of the free public schools. This money 
is raised partly by an annual tax levied by the State legis- 
lature on the taxable property in each county, and it is 
partly the income from certain educational funds belonging 
to the State, which the people, through the constitution, 
have declared shall be kept inviolate for school purposes. 1 
These are known as the Common School Fund and the 
United States Deposit Fund. The common school fund had 
its beginning in 1 805, when the State sold some 500,000 
acres of public land " to raise a fund for the encouragement 
of common schools." The United States deposit fund is a 
portion of a surplus of $30,000,000 of United States funds 
that had accumulated in the United States treasury, and that 

1 New York State Constitution, Article IX., Section 3. 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 195 

was distributed in 1832 among the States, to be kept until 
called for by the national government. 

Distribution of School Moneys. — From these moneys the 
State superintendent of public instruction apportions annually 
the salaries of the school commissioners throughout the 
State, and the sums prescribed by State law for each city, 
incorporated village, union free school district, and each 
common school district, depending upon population, num- 
ber of teachers employed, number of children attending 
school, and the length of their attendance. The remainder 
the superintendent apportions among the counties in propor- 
tion to population, the money being paid to the county 
treasurer. The school commissioners of the county appor- 
tion this State money among the towns and the school dis- 
tricts, money for the towns going to the supervisors, who 
pay it over to the trustees of the school districts. Out of its 
school moneys the State supports a Normal College at 
Albany and twelve Normal Schools for the instruction and 
training of public school teachers. It also pays for the 
maintenance of teachers' training classes in connection 
with academies and the academic departments of union free 
schools, and for the teachers' institutes carried on in various 
school commissioners' districts, where teachers already em- 
ployed in the public schools may receive instruction. The 
State also has a " Literature Fund'' the income from which 
goes to the academies. 

Schools in Cities. — The public schools of each city, while 
being subject generally to the State laws regulating public 
education, and to the general supervision of the State superin- 
dent of public instruction, are carried on in accordance with 
special provisions in the various city charters ; each city 
having generally its own local board of education, elected or 



196 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

appointed, and its superintendent of schools, usually elected 
by its board of education. 

School-teachers are Public Officers. — Teachers in the free 
public schools are public officers, paid partly by the State 
and partly by the local government employing them ; and 
no person may teach in the public schools without first re- 
ceiving a teacher's license. A license may be obtained 
(i) by passing a graded examination prepared by the State 
superintendent of public instruction and conducted by a 
school commissioner, the license being good only in the 
commissioner's district ; or (2) by passing an examination 
conducted by the State superintendent of public instruction 
for a license good for life, which gives permission to teach in 
any public school in the State ; or (3) by graduating from a 
State Normal School ; or (4) by securing a certain standing 
in a teacher's training class ; or (5) by passing the local ex- 
amination of a city superintendent of schools for license to 
teach in his particular city. 

The Compulsory School Attendance Law. 1 — The com- 

iThe Compulsory Attendance Law.— Title XVI. , Section 3, of the 
Consolidated School Law, being a portion of the Compulsory Educational Law, 
reads : " Every child between eight and sixteen years of age, in proper phys- 
ical and mental condition to attend school, shall regularly attend upon in- 
struction at a school in which at least the common school branches of read- 
ing, spelling, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography are 
taught, or upon equivalent instruction by a competent teacher elsewhere than 
at a school, as follows : Every such child between fourteen and sixteen 
years of age, not regularly and lawfully engaged in an useful employment or 
service, and every such child between eight and twelve years of age, shall so 
attend upon instruction as many days annually, during the period between 
the first days of October and the following June, as the public school of the 
district or city in which such child resides, shall be in session during the same 
period. Every child between twelve and fourteen years of age in proper 
physical and mental condition to attend school, shall attend upon instruc- 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 197 

mon schools of the State are free to all children over five 
and under eighteen years of age ; and the State requires 
every child between eight and twelve years old who is in 
proper physical and mental condition, to attend the com- 
mon schools or equivalent instruction, throughout the school 
year between October 1st and the following June. Every 
such child between twelve and fourteen years old must at- 
tend school at least eighty days during the school year, and 
must attend the full school year, unless engaged in regular, 
useful, and lawful employment; and every child between 
fourteen and sixteen years old who is not regularly and law- 
fully employed must attend school for the full school year. 
Attendance officers, called truant officers, who have power 
to arrest truants without a warrant, must be appointed in 
each city and school district to enforce compulsory attend- 
ance. Parents who neglect to cause their children to attend 
school in accordance with the law are guilty of a misde- 



tion during the school year then current, at least eighty secular days of 
actual attendance, which shall be consecutive except for holidays, vacations 
and detentions by sickness, which holidays, vacations and detentions shall not 
be counted as a part of such eighty days, and such child shall, in addition to 
the said eighty days, attend upon instruction when not regularly and lawfully 
engaged in useful employment or service. If any such child shall so attend 
upon instruction elsewhere than at a public school, such instruction shall be at 
least substantially equivalent to the instruction given to children of like age 
at the public school of the city or district in which such child resides; and 
such attendance shall be for at least as many hours of each day thereof, as are 
required of children of like age at public schools; and no greater total 
amount of holidays and vacations shall be deducted from such attendance 
during the period such attendance is required, than is allowed in such public 
school to children of like age. Occasional absences from such attendance, 
not amounting to irregular attendance in the fair meaning of the term, shall be 
allowed upon such excuses only as would be allowed in like cases by the gen- 
eral rules and practice 9/ such public school." 



iy8 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

meanor. The State superintendent of public instruction 
may withhold school moneys from cities or districts that 
fail to enforce compulsory school attendance, and he may re- 
move from office any school officer who willfully neglects his 
duties. 

The University of the State of New York and the 
Regents. — As the free common schools of the State are con- 
ducted under the general supervision of the State superin- 
tendent of public instruction, so higher education in the 
universities, colleges, academies, high schools, and technical 
schools of the State, is carried on under the general super- 
vision of the Regents of the State University. The regents, 
as we have seen, 1 consist of a body of twenty-three men, 
nineteen of whom are appointed for life by the State legis- 
lature. The regents include the governor, lieutenant gov- 
ernor, secretary of state, and State superintendent of public 
instruction, as ex officio members. The University of the 
State of New York, under the control of the body of regents, 
is a federation of the higher institutions of learning in the 
State — universities, colleges, academies, high schools, tech- 
nical schools, etc., including some public libraries, museums 
and university extension centers, — which have been passed 
upon and officially examined by the regents, and which have 
conformed to their requirements as to course of study, in- 
struction, examination, diplomas, etc. This university was 
incorporated by the legislature in 1784 and is a distinctly 
supervisory body. The officers of the regents of the uni- 
versity are a chancellor and vice-chancellor, and an admin- 
istrative secretary. 

Powers of the Regents. — The board of regents has power 
to incorporate, alter, or revoke the charters of universities, 

1 Chapter XV., "The State's Executive Department." 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 199 

colleges and other institutions of higher learning in the 
State. Officers of the board visit and examine these insti- 
tutions annually. The regents also prepare regents' exami- 
nations covering college preparatory studies and qualifica- 
tions for admission to various technical and professional 
schools. These examinations are made use of in determining 
the amount of money to be apportioned to separate schools 
from a fund of some $100,000 distributed by the regents to 
academies and high schools. The regents also conduct a 
department of university extension work, sending out teach- 
ers and lecturers, conducting examinations, and granting 
regents' certificates to students passing the required exami- 
nations. 

SUMMARY. 

The State must have intelligent voters, if it would have 
good government ; so it has established free schools and re- 
quires the children to attend school. 

Outside of cities, the State is divided into school com- 
missioners' districts; and these are in turn divided into 
school districts, each having its free common school, sup- 
ported in part by the State and in part by the district. Each 
city has its own system of free public schools and its school 
superintendent, as provided in its charter. All are under 
the supervision of the State superintendent of public in- 
struction. 

The school district is a unit of local government for school 
purposes. The school district meeting is the district legis- 
lative body, and the school trustee is the chief executive 
officer of the district. 

Higher instruction in the state is under the supervision of 
the regents of the University of the State of New York. 



200 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Give the substance of the law compelling children to at- 
tend school in this State. What is the purpose of this law ? 
How is it enforced ? 

Give an account of the school commissioner and his duties. 

What is a school district? Describe in outline the gov- 
ernment of the school district for school purposes. Who is 
its chief executive officer ? 

How are union free school districts formed ? For what 
purposes ? 

Describe the duties of the State superintendent of public 
instruction. How is he chosen ? 

Name three sources from which money is obtained to 
carry on the free public schools of this State. How may a 
person obtain a license to teach in such schools? 

Describe the board of regents and its duties. How are 
the regents chosen? For what terms? What is the Uni- 
versity of the State of New York ? Who was its first 
chancellor ? What is a regent's certificate ? 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Assessment and Collection of Taxes. 

Government cannot be carried on without money. The 
town must have money to pay for roads and bridges ; the 
village must have money for street lamps, village water- 
works and police. The great city must spend millions of 
dollars every year for lighting, paving, street cleaning, water, 
police, schools, and a hundred other necessary public activi- 
ties. In the county the sheriff, the county judge, county 
clerk, and other officers must be paid. So in the State, the 
governor and his army of assistants in the executive depart- 
ment, the members of the legislature, and the judges of the 
courts must all have their salaries. Without . money, the 
wheels of government would soon cease to revolve. Many 
beneficial public activities would be suspended, schools 
would close, courts and policemen would stop work, county 
poorhouses and State asylums would be obliged to turn 
their helpless inmates into the streets, law would remain 
unenforced, and confusion, ignorance, and crime, would soon 
triumph over the feeble and unorganized efforts of indi- 
viduals. 

But where is all the money, needed to carry on the vast 
and complicated public activities of our government, to come 
from ? How is it to be apportioned among the people bene- 
fited ? How collected so as least to inconvenience the 
people who are to pay it ? To answer these questions satis- 

Hoxie's N . 20I 



202 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

factorily has been from the beginning of civilized govern- 
ment, one of its most difficult and delicate problems. 

Money to Carry on the Government is Collected in the 
Form of Taxes. — Money or service lawfully taken from the 
people to meet the expenses of their government is called 
taxes. Different governments have different methods of 
assessing and collecting the taxes. Taxes for the support 
of the government of the United States are collected very 
largely as customs duties and internal revenue. The former 
is a tax collected at the United States customhouses, on the 
value of goods or products brought into this country from 
foreign countries. The United States internal revenue taxes 
are collected not on goods imported, but upon domestic 
commerce and manufactures. Internal revenue is often 
collected in the form of stamps purchased from the officers 
of the United States government, and placed on the article 
manufactured or sold. Thus, the manufacturers of pre- 
pared tobacco place on each package or box of cigars before 
selling it, an internal revenue stamp, bought at the office of 
the United States collector of internal revenue. Both 
customs duties and internal revenue taxes are known as 
indirect taxes, because they are paid ultimately by the con- 
sumer or purchaser of the articles taxed, he paying the tax 
in the increased price asked for the taxed article. 

State and Local Taxes. — Money for carrying on our 
State and local governments is collected very largely in the 
form of a tax on the value of houses, lands, and other per- 
manent property, located in the territory governed. Such 
permanent property is called real property. Movable prop- 
erty, such as horses, cattle, the goods of a merchant, certain 
farm machinery, etc., is also subject to taxation ; but this 
movable property, which is called personal property, is a 



ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES. 203 

more difficult form of property to tax than real property, 
owing to the comparative ease with which it can be con- 
cealed, and because of its greater fluctuation in value. We 
have seen that a poll or personal tax is also assessed on the 
voters in the country districts, for the purpose of keeping up 
the roads. In the raising of State and local taxes, each 
owner of taxable property is required generally to pay a tax 
equal to a certain definite percentage of the value of his 
property subject to taxation. Thus if $100,000 of taxes is to 
be raised in a certain city, and the value of the taxable prop- 
erty in the city is $5,000,000, each dollar's worth of property 
will pay two cents in taxes ; and John Smith, who owns a 
house and lot valued at $2,500, must pay fifty dollars. This 
form of taxation is called direct taxation, because the tax money 
goes directly from John Smith's pocket to the officers of the 
government, instead of being paid indirectly, in the increased 
price which he pays for an article which is taxed by the gov- 
ernment. 

Tax Districts. — For the purpose of collecting taxes, the 
State is divided into tax districts, each district usually cor- 
responding to a town or city. Officers are elected or 
appointed in each town and city to ascertain the value of the 
houses, lands, and other taxable property in the district, and 
these officers often collect in a single sum, from each prop- 
erty owner, the amount of taxes due from him to the State, 
county, town, and city governments. 

Fixing the Amount of the Taxes. — The State legislature 
decides what sum must be raised each year from the prop- 
erty in each county to carry on the State government. The 
county board of supervisors in each county decides how 
much money must be raised as a county tax to carry on the 
count)' government; and this is added to the sum to be 



204 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

raised in the county for State purposes. The amount to be 
raised for town purposes is decided by the town meeting in 
each town ; the sum is reported to the county board of 
supervisors, and the board adds it to the town's proportion 
of State and county taxes. The amount of money needed 
to carry on a city government is usually fixed by its com- 
mon council, which reports the sum to the board of super- 
visors of the county in which the city is located ; and the 
board adds to this sum the State and county tax for which 
the city is liable, as in the case of a town. Village and 
school-district taxes are collected independently of the State 
and other local taxes, by the village and school-district 
officers. 

Assessors and Their Duties. — In each tax district of the 
State, three assessors are elected by the people of the towns, 
but special laws govern in the cities. It is the duty of the 
assessors to " ascertain by diligent inquiry" all property and 
persons in the district liable to be taxed. Generally all real 
property — that is, houses and lands — must pay taxes, and a 
mortgage given for a debt due upon a house or farm does 
not lessen the amount of taxes the property must pay. A 
man may also be taxed on his personal or movable prop- 
erty after deducting his just debts from its value. Excep- 
tion is made of public property belonging to the United 
States or to the State, and of property of municipal corpora- 
tions used for public purposes, such as a courthouse, jail, 
park, cemetery, etc. Such property is not taxed. Neither 
is the property of religious and charitable organizations, like 
churches and hospitals, when used directly for religious or 
benevolent purposes. 

The Assessment Roll. — From information obtained by 
the assessors, they make up what is called an assessment 



ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES. 205 

roll for the tax district. This roll must contain the name 
of each person in the tax district liable to be taxed, the 
value of his real property, and the amount of any personal 
property or rents upon which he may be taxed. Having 
made up the assessment roll, the assessors now notify the 
people of the district that the roll is open for inspection. 
The assessors fix a time and place for hearing any com- 
plaints of persons, who may think themselves wrongly as- 
sessed. As a result of these hearings, corrections may be 
made in the assessment roll. This roll, when corrected, is 
filed with the town or city clerk. 

The County Board of Equalization. — The assessment 
roll for each tax district is taken to the annual meeting of 
the county board of supervisors ; and the board there ex- 
amines the different rolls. If any person still feels aggrieved 
at the amount he has been assessed, he may now appeal 
from the decision of his local assessors to the county board 
of supervisors, for its decision. This board, when examin- 
ing the assessment rolls, sits as a County Board of Equaliza- 
tion of Taxes, and lias power to increase or decrease the 
aggregate assessed value of the real property in any tax dis- 
trict, in order to produce a just relation among the several 
district valuations ; but the board must not decrease the 
total assessment of the county. The board apportions the 
State and county taxes due from each town and city, adds 
the town or city tax, and puts the amount of each person's 
tax opposite his name on the assessment roll of his tax dis- 
trict. The assessment roll, thus completed, becomes the 
tax roll of the district. We will now go back to John 
Smith, who owns a house and lot valued at $2,500. We 
will suppose the county board of equalization finds that 
Si 00,000 is to be raised in taxes from the property of the 



206 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

city where John Smith lives. Of this sum, $80,000 is re- 
quired by the city government to pay for schools, police, 
streets, sewers, lights, etc. ; $10,000 is the city's share o] 
the money needed'to carry on the county government ; and 
$10,000 is due from the city to the State government. The 
total tax on each dollar of taxable property in the city is 
two cents. Of the fifty dollars taxes which John Smith will 
pay on his property, valued at $2,500, forty dollars there- 
fore, will go to the city government, five dollars to the 
county, and five dollars to the State. 

Collecting the Taxes. — The amount of each man's tax 
having been ascertained, the board of supervisors directs the 
collector in each tax district, to collect the money due, and 
pay it over to the officials entitled by law to receive it. 
The commissioners of highways receive the money for 
building and repairing the roads ; the overseers of the poor, 
the money for the support of the county's poor ; the super- 
visor, the money for town expenses ; the city treasurer, the 
money for the city government ; and the county treasurer, 
the remainder. The county treasurer pays out of the money 
received by him, any charges against the county, and he 
pays to the State comptroller the tax on the property 
of the county fixed by the legislature for State purposes. 
Both the State comptroller and the county treasurer are 
authorized by law to sell real property on which the tax 
remains unpaid ; but the property so sold may be re- 
deemed or bought back by its former owner, on his pay- 
ing back taxes due, and the costs and expenses of the tax 
sale. The local authorities of cities may sell in a similar 
way real property on which certain city taxes have not 
been paid. 

The State Board of Equalization. — That the property in 



ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES. 207 

each county may be justly assessed for the payment of taxes 
due to the State, officers known as State tax commission- 
ers, visit the different counties, ascertain the value of the 
taxable property, and the manner of its assessment and valu- 
ation by the assessors in the local tax districts. Once a 
year, a State board of equalization, somewhat similar to the 
county board just described, meets at Albany to examine and 
revise the valuations of the taxable property reported from 
the different counties. The tax commissioners are mem- 
bers of this State board. The State board of equalization 
may increase or decrease the aggregate value of the assess- 
ment of the real property of any county, but it cannot de- 
crease the total of the assessed valuation of property within 
the State. Appeals from decisions of county boards of 
equalization may be made to this State board. 

" Tax Dodging " and its Penalty. — Sometimes persons 
try to escape paying their just share of the taxes by con- 
cealing their taxable property, or making false statements to 
the assessors as to its value. Such attempted " tax dodg- 
ing," the law of the State classes among the misdemeanors, 
and a person thus trying to deceive the tax officers, may be 
tried and punished by the criminal courts. 

Other Taxes for State and Local Purposes. — Besides 
the system of direct and indirect taxes previously described, 
the State collects a tax on certain inheritances of property ; 
on the capital stock of private corporations ; and from the 
owners of public franchises, such as the privilege of operat- 
ing a street railroad or a telegraph system. State taxes are 
also collected on the business of selling intoxicating liquors 
— this last under what is known as the Raines liquor tax 
law. Special taxes are also collected in cities and villages, 
for opening streets, grading and paving them, and for laying 



208 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

sewers — these special taxes being usually quite largely col- 
lected from the property immediately benefited by the im- 
provements made. 

Private Corporations and Their Nature. — We have 
spoken of the taxes collected upon the capital stock and in- 
come of private corporations operating railroads, telegraph 
lines, etc. What is a private corporation, and how does it dif- 
fer from the municipal corporations of town, village, city and 
count}', previously described ? Private corporations are 
composed of persons united usually for the conducting of 
money-making enterprises, like banking, insurance, rail- 
roads and other enterprises too great to be successfully 
managed by a single individual. A private corporation, 
like a municipal corporation, must go to the State legislature 
for its charter for permission to do business ; and these 
corporations are organized under a general law of the State, 
known as the Corporation Law. When the individuals 
composing a private corporation have obtained their char- 
ter, they may buy, sell, and hold property, carry on the 
corporate business permitted by their charter, sue and be 
sued, as a single individual. 

Banks and Banking. — Important private corporations, 
subject to the laws of New York, are the State banks, which, 
under the general laws of the State, are allowed to issue their 
banknotes, or promises to pay, for circulation among the 
people as money. For the security of those who deposit 
their money in State banks, or who use their banknotes as 
money, the law provides that these banks shall be subject to 
the control of the State Superintendent of Banks. Under 
the State constitution all State banknotes issued or put in 
circulation as money, must be registered by the State, and 
the banks must deposit with the State officers, securities suf- 



ASSESSMENT AXD COLLECTION OF TAXES. 209 

ficient to redeem their notes in coin. 1 The constitution still 
further provides for the protection of the people against the 
possible failure of the banks to meet the obligations of these 
notes, that the legislature shall have no power to pass any 
law " sanctioning in any manner directly or indirectly, the 
suspension of specie payments by any person, association 
or corporation issuing banknotes of any description." 2 
This means that, if so demanded, a bank must pay its notes 
in coin. 

Differing from the State banks, are the national banks, 
created by United States law and under the supervision 
of the United States Treasury Department. One of the 
chief functions of the national banks, is to issue their paper 
notes or promises to pay, and loan them to the people. A 
national bank, wishing to issue banknotes, must first buy 
United States bonds 3 equal in face value to the total amount 
of the notes which the bank proposes to issue. These 
bonds the bank must deposit with an officer of the treasury 
department known as the comptroller of the currency, as a 
security for the redemption of its banknotes. The treasury 
department at Washington then prints notes or bills for the 
bank, which, when signed by the proper officers, may be 
loaned or circulated as money. 

The State not to Aid Private Enterprises. — The State 
constitution i says that the money or credit of the State 



1 New York Constitution, Article VIII., Section 6. 

•New York Constitution, Article VIII., Section 5. 

3 Bonds of the United States are its written promises to pay at a definite 
time money which it has borrowed, with interest, at a rate fixed by Congress 
at the time of issuing the bond. 

•New York State Constitution, Article VIII., Section 9; also Article VI I., 
Section 1. 



210 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

shall not in any manner " be given or loaned to or in aid of 
any association, corporation or private undertaking," con- 
ducted for private gain. And the State may not become 
the owner of any stock or bonds of any association or 
private corporation. These constitutional provisions are in- 
tended to prevent the lawmakers from using the public money 
in such a way as to benefit any private enterprise. The 
State is prohibited by the constitution from incurring any 
public debt in excess of $1,000,000, unless it be for the 
purpose of repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or 
defending the State in time of war. 1 The State constitu- 
tion also prohibits any county, city, town, or village, from 
giving money or property to, or loaning its money or 
credit in aid of, any individual, association, or corporation, 
or from owning any stock or bonds of any private associa- 
tion or corporation. 2 

The Forest Preserve and the Canals. — New York owns a 
vast quantity of wild forest land in the Adirondack region, 
much of which is covered with virgin forests. In it are the 
head waters of the Hudson, Mohawk, and other large 
rivers, which supply water for the canals owned by the 
State. This, with other wild lands owned by the State, is 
called the " Forest Preserve." It is under the care of the 
forest, fish and game commission, and affords a magnificent 
public park for the people of the State. The State consti- 
tution declares that the forest preserve, now or hereafter to 
be acquired, shall be forever kept as wild forest land ; and 
that it may not be leased, sold, or exchanged, or taken by 
any corporation ; and that the timber on it shall not be sold, 



1 New York State Constitution, Article VII., Sections 2 and 3. 

2 New York State Constitution, Article VIII., Section 10. 



ASSESSMENT AXD COLLECTION Of TAXES. 211 

removed, or destroyed. In connection with the same sub- 
ject, the constitution declares that the canals owned by the 
State shall not be sold or leased, but must remain the prop- 
erty of the State and under State management. No tolls 
may be charged on the canals, but they are always to re- 
main free public waterways for the use of the people. 1 

SUMMARY. 

Money to carry on the various governments, State and 
local, is collected from the people and property within the 
State in the form of taxes. 

Money for the support of the United States government 
is collected in the form of indirect taxes ; for the support of 
State and local governments principally in the form of direct 
taxes on real and personal property. 

The State legislature decides the amount of tax to be 
raised for the State government ; the board of supervisors 
the amount for the county; the town meeting the amount 
for the town ; and the common council the amount for the 
city. 

The State is divided into tax districts, each with its own 
board of local assessors, who fix the value of each man's 
property for purposes of taxation, and record the same in 
the district assessment roll. 

The county board of supervisors, sitting as a board of 
equalization, compares the assessment rolls of the several 
tax districts in the county, fixes a just relation between the 
different valuations, and fixes each man's total tax for 
State and local purposes, except village, school-district and 

1 New York State Constitution, Article VII., Sections 7, 8, and 9. 



212 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

road taxes, which is then collected in a lump sum by the 
collector of his tax district. 

A State board of equalization performs similar duties in 
regard to the valuations of the different counties of the 
State. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Name three purposes for which taxes may be legally im- 
posed in this State. 

What is the difference between direct and indirect taxa- 
tion ? Which is chiefly employed for State and local pur- 
poses ? 

What are customs duties ? What is internal revenue ? 

What are the usual boundaries of a tax district in this 
State ? Describe generally the mode of assessing and col- 
lecting State and local taxes. 

What is meant by the " county board of equalization " ? 
What are the duties of this board ? 

What is a tax sale ? When is it employed ? What is 
the penalty for making false statements to the tax officials 
about one's taxable property ? 

How does a private corporation differ from a municipal 
corporation ? 

What officer has general supervision of the operations 
of State banks ? For what purpose ? What provision of 
the constitution prohibits a State bank from suspending 
specie payments ? 

Describe briefly the difference between a national and a 
State bank. May the State guarantee the financial stand- 
ing of a bank ? If not, why not? May a city loan money 
to a bank ? 

What is the State's forest preserve ? 



ASSESSMENT AXD COLLECTION OF TAXES. 213 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

For a brief account of the history and working of the national 
banking system, see Dunbar's Chapters on the Theory and History of 
Banking, Chapter IX., " The National Banks of the United States." 
On the general subject of taxation, see R. T. Ely's Taxation in 
American States and Cities. 



CHAPTER XX. 
The Conduct of Public Elections. 

Voting in New York seems at first sight to be a very 
simple affair. The voter goes to the polls on election day, 
and puts into the ballot box a piece of paper on which are 
the names of men whom he wishes elected to public office. 
But voting when we come to look more carefully into it, is 
not such a simple matter. A large number of public offi- 
cers are required to conduct our public elections, and many 
forms of law must be complied with, before every citizen 
possessing the right to vote, may cast a ballot for the men 
of his choice, before the ballots so cast may be counted, 
and before the men elected to public offices may take their 
places in the service of the State and local governments. 

Government Carried on by Political Parties. — One of 
the first things we shall see, as we come to look more care- 
fully into the subject of public elections, is that the men 
elected to office nearly always represent some one or more 
political parties. They are Republicans, Democrats, Pro- 
hibitionists, Socialists, etc. When the citizen goes to the 
polling place to vote, he does not, usually, write on his ballot 
the name of any man who he thinks would make a good 
governor, sheriff, mayor, etc., but he votes for men whose 
names are already on the ballot — for men who have been 
named for these offices by some organized body of citizens. 
Thus he casts a ballot for the nominees of the Republican 
party, the Democratic party, the Prohibition party, or the 
214 



THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC ELECTIONS. 215 

Socialist party. Or perhaps he votes for men who have 
been named for office by some body of independent voters 
not connected with these parties. If lie votes for men not 
previously nominated by some organized body, he votes for 
persons who have no possible chance of being elected ; and 
for this " throwing away of a vote " there is little excuse, ex- 
cept as the voters of a minority party wish " to stand up 
and be counted " for some principle held dear by them. 
Because the men elected to public office usually represent 
some political party, the State has enacted laws regulating 
the action of political parties, so as to give each member of 
a party a voice in the selection of his party's nominees for 
public office. 

How Political Parties Work. — Parties in New York are 
organized along the lines of the local political divisions — 
election districts, towns, wards, cities, and counties. They 
are also organized as State bodies. In each of these polit- 
ical divisions every fully organized party has its party com- 
mittee, composed of men voting with it, whose duty it is to 
secure a voluntary enrollment or list of the party's voters, 
to collect and pay out money to advance the party interests, 
to circulate newspapers advocating its principles and candi- 
dates, and to bring out the party's voters on registration and 
election days. Such a committee also calls, at the proper 
time, a primary meeting of the party's voters in the division 
under its control, for the purpose of naming party candi- 
dates for public office, or to select delegates to represent 
the party in a nominating convention that shall name such 
candidates. Every enrolled voter of a party is entitled to 
attend its primary meetings held in his particular district, 
and he is eligible as a delegate to its nominating conven- 
tions. 



216 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

State Regulation of Political Parties. — The State law- 
provides that every political organization casting a certain 
number of votes for governor (at present 10,000) shall be 
known as a political party. It also provides that the volun- 
tary enrollment of party voters, previously mentioned, 
shall, in cities of the first and second class, take place under 
the direction of the public inspectors of election, at the 
times and places provided for the registration of voters for 
the public elections. 1 This party enrollment is by secret 
ballot, the voter indicating on a ballot furnished by the in- 
spectors of election, his party preference. This ballot is 
then placed in a sealed envelope and deposited in a special 
ballot box provided for the enrollment. At the proper time 
these envelopes are opened by an officer known as the 
custodian of primary records, and the names of the en- 
rolled voters are turned over to the proper officers of their 
respective political parties. Outside cities of the first and 
second class this party enrollment is conducted by the 
party committees of the different parties, under regula- 
tions imposed by State law. Only an enrolled party voter 
may take part in his party's primary meetings and 
nominating conventions, which are also conducted under 
forms laid down by State law. A party primary meet- 
ing, attended by the enrolled voters of the party, usually 
names the party's candidates for office in the smaller 
political divisions, such as the town or ward ; while nomi- 
nating conventions, composed of delegates elected by the 
party voters at the different primary meetings, name the 

1 Other cities, and villages of 5,000 or more population, may, on formal re- 
quest of a majority of the voters, or on request of the party committees, 
come under the provisions of this law. See Chapter 473, Laws of 1899, 
known as the " Primary Election Law." 



THE CONDUCT OF PL'BLIC ELECTIONS. 217 

party's candidates in the larger divisions — assembly dis- 
trict, city, county, and State. 

Filing the Nominations. — The party convention or 
primary having chosen its candidates to be voted for by the 
people at the public election, their names must be filed 
with certain public officers designated by State law. If the 
nominations are for offices to be filled by the voters of the 
entire State, such as governor or secretary of state, or by 
the voters of a division larger than a county, such as a Con- 
gressional District, the names of the candidates must be 
filed with the secretary of state. Nominations for offices to 
be filled by the voters of a county must be filed with the 
county clerk, of a city with the city clerk. Other local 
nominations may be filed with a town or a village clerk. 
Bodies of citizens not connected with any of the regular 
political parties, may nominate candidates " by petition," as 
it is called. This is done by getting a certain number of 
voters to sign a paper naming a particular candidate. Thus 
6,000 voters of the State — at least fifty of whom l must come 
from each county 2 — may sign the nominating " petition," or 
certificate, of a candidate for a State office. A candidate so 
named is said to have an independent nomination. 

Registering the Voters. — For purposes of conducting pub- 
lic elections, the State is divided into election districts, each 
district having one polling place. In towns and villages the 
election districts are few in number ; in large cities they 
sometimes number hundreds. At every polling place, a 
certain number of days before election, officers known as 
the board of registry meet to register the qualified voters of 
the district. As already stated, 3 every voter must be regis- 

1 Laws of 1896, Chapter 909. 2 Except Fulton and Hamilton. 

•Chapter XII., "The Right to Vote." 
Hoxies N. V.-14 



218 GOVERNMENT OE NEW YORK. 

tered before he can vote. No matter how well a voter may 
be otherwise qualified, if he fails to register, he cannot vote. 
This is a rule adopted to prevent fraudulent voting. In 
cities and villages of the first class, the board of registry 
holds four meetings, and each voter must present himself 
personally to be registered. In country districts, and 
smaller villages, but two meetings of the board of registry 
are held, and it is not always necessary that a voter be pres- 
ent personally to be registered. 

The Public Election. — The General State Election is held 
annually, on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in 
November, and the polling places throughout the State 
must be open on that day from 6 a. m. to 5 p. m. for the re- 
ception of ballots. The secretary of state notifies each 
county clerk what State and county orifices are to be filled 
at the election, and the clerk adds the local orifices and pub- 
lishes the list for public information. The town boards in 
towns, and the common council in cities (the commissioners 
of elections in the city of New York) divide the territory 
under their jurisdiction into election districts, and designate 
the location of the polling places. The election officers in 
each district consist of four inspectors of election, two poll 
clerks, and two ballot clerks — all divided equally between 
the two leading political parties. 

Official Ballots. — Official ballots to the number of twice 
the registered voters are provided at each polling place at 
public expense, and none but such ballots may be voted. 
The official ballot contains in separate party columns, each 
headed by the party emblem, the names of all the candidates 
duly nominated and to be voted for by each political party, 
and by each body of citizens making independent nomina- 
tions. There is also a blank column on the ballot in which 





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SPECIMEN BALLOT. 



219 



220 GOVERNMENT OF NE IV YORK. 

any voter may write the name of any person for whom he 
wishes to vote, if the name does not appear in any of the 
party or independent columns. 

Marking the Ballots. — As each voter enters the polling 
place to vote, his name is announced by the election offi- 
cials and he is given an official ballot, which he takes into 
one of a number of secret voting booths provided in the 
polling place. There in secret the voter marks his ballot. 
If he wishes to vote a " straight party ticket," that is for the 
candidates nominated by a single political party, he makes 
an " X" mark in a circle which is printed at the head of that 
party's column on the ballot. If he wishes to vote a " split 
ticket," that is, to divide his vote among the candidates of 
different parties, he makes an " X " mark before the name 
of each candidate for whom he wishes to vote. 

Voting. — After the voter has marked his ballot, he folds 
it, with the names inside, so that no person can see for whom 
he has voted, comes out of the secret booth and hands the 
folded ballot to one of the election officers, who deposits it 
in the ballot box. This secret method of voting with offi- 
cial ballots supplied through public officers, at public ex- 
pense, is called the Australian system, because it has been 
in successful use for a long time in Australia. The secret 
vote gives every voter an opportunity to deposit a ballot for 
the men of his choice without fear of intimidation. It also 
tends to prevent bribery at elections, (g\v men being willing 
to pay money for a vote, without some proof that it is cast. 

Counting the Ballots. — The votes are immediately, at the 
closing of the polls in each election district, publicly counted 
by the inspectors of election, and the result is filed with the 
county clerk. The supervisors of each county then meet as 
a board of county canvassers, to determine the results of the 



THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC ELECTIONS. 221 

election, from the reports filed with the county clerk. The 
report of the canvass of each county board is then sent to a 
State board of canvassers, consisting of the secretary of state 
and other State officers. This State board is the final author- 
ity in determining the results of the election. The candidate 
for any particular office found to have the greatest number 
of votes, is declared elected. It is not necessary that he 
have a majority of the votes polled for the office. 1 

The Oath of Office — Provisions Against Bribery. — 
Members of the State legislature and all State officers, 
executive and judicial, except inferior officers exempt by 
law, must, before they enter upon the duties of their offices, 
take before a public officer authorized to receive an oath, an 
oath or affirmation to support the constitution of the United 
States and the State constitution, and faithfully to discharge 
the duties of their offices; and each must, in addition, 
solemnly swear (or affirm), that he has not directly or 
indirectly paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, or 
offered, or promised to contribute, any money or other 
valuable thing as a consideration or reward for the giving or 
withholding of a vote, at the election at which he was 
chosen ; and that he has not made any promise to influence 
the giving or withholding of any vote. 2 Any officeholder 
who receives anything of value for performing or omitting 
to perform any official duty, is guilty of a felony ; and any 

1 The candidate polling the most votes for a particular office is said to have 
a plurality of the votes cast. This is not necessarily a majority of the votes. 
A majority means more than half the votes cast for a particular office. In 
case of three candidates for the same office, one might be elected by a plural- 
ity, that is, he would have more votes than either of his opponents, but not 
necessarily more than half the votes cast for the office to which he was 
elected. 

'-' New York State Constitution, Article XIII., Section 1. 



222 GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK. 

person who promises or offers a bribe to an officeholder for 
such a purpose, is guilty of a felony. 1 

SUMMARY. 

A candidate for public office must usually win a nomina- 
tion from a political party before he can win an election at 
the polls ; for this reason the State regulates by law the con- 
duct of political parties, which are organized along the lines 
of the different political divisions — State and local. 

Nominations for public office are made in party primaries 
and conventions, the names of the nominees filed with the 
public election officials and placed upon an official ballot, 
which is given to every qualified voter at the polls on elec- 
tion day. 

The State is divided into election districts, each having 
its own polling place and its own local election officials. 

Voting is done in secret and the votes are publicly counted 
by the election officials of each district, and the result filed 
with the county clerk. 

The boards of supervisors, acting as boards of county can- 
vassers, canvass the results of the election in the several 
counties, and report to the State board of canvassers, which 
is the final authority in determining the results of a general 
election. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is an official ballot ? What must it contain ? 

What is a political party under the laws of New York ? 

What is a primary ? How does it differ from a nominat- 
ing convention ? Who are entitled to attend and take part 
in a primary or caucus ? In a nominating convention ? De- 

J New York State Constitution, Article XIII., Sections 2 and 3. 



THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC ELECTIONS. 223 

scribe briefly the manner of enrolling party voters in this 
State. 

With whom must nominations for a State office be filed ? 
A county office ? For member of the house of representa- 
tives ? What is meant by an independent nomination? 
What feature of the official ballot gives a voter absolute free- 
dom in expressing his choice for the occupant of any par- 
ticular office? 

How may a legal voter lose his right to vote at a particu- 
lar election? 

Name the election officers required in each election dis- 
trict. 

Explain the terms " plurality " and " majority." 

Give the substance of the oath of office required of State 
officials. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The State and the United States. 

Up to this time we have been speaking of New York as an 
independent political unit, doing its own public work, through 
the State and local governments which its people have created. 
We shall now speak of New York as a part of the United 
States — the great national state 1 of which New York is one 
of forty-five local States or commonwealths. How did New 
York become a part of the independent nation known as the 
United States ? To answer this question we must go back to 
the time when the people of thirteen British colonies, lying 
between the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean 
— weak in men and arms, but strong in their sense of justice 
and personal freedom — were struggling with Parliament and 
king for their constitutional rights as Englishmen. 

Taxation Without Consent. — The war of the American 
revolution, as everybody knows, was fought mainly over the 
question of the right of Parliament to tax the people of the 
colonies without their consent. For hundreds of years 

] The word " state " is here used in its general sense, and means the whole 
body of people united under a single government, whatever its form. Thus 
we may speak of the " British state " or the " French state," meaning the 
people of Great Britain or the people of France united under their respective 
governments. " The state," says Professor Burgess in his Political Science 
and Constitutional Law, " is a particular portion of mankind viewed as an 
organized unit." In this sense the United States is the " state " while the 
word " State," as applied to local commonwealths like New York, Massa- 
chusetts, etc., is to be taken in a special and limited sense, and as applying 
only to divisions of the real state. 
224 



THE STATE AXD THE L'XITED STATES. 225 

before the Revolutionary War, it had been the constitutional 
right of Englishmen to pay taxes levied only by the consent 
of their chosen representatives. When, in 121 5, King John 
signed the great charter, he agreed to levy no new taxes 
except by consent of the representatives of the English peo- 
ple in the " general council of the kingdom." When, fifty 
years later, Earl Simon de Montfort summoned the first 
English House of Commons in opposition to the unjust rule 
of Henry III., this body announced as one of its leading 
principles that the people can be taxed only by consent of 
their lawfully chosen representatives. In 1297 King Edward 
I., formally renounced, by act of Parliament, 1 the right to 
tax the English people except by consent of their parlia- 
mentary representatives. Almost from the beginning of the 
English settlements in America, each colony had its own 
representative assembly, chosen by its own people, which 
alone had the right to levy the provincial taxes. Hence 
when George III. tried to impose, through the Stamp Act, a 
tax on the internal commerce of the colonies without the 
assent of the colonists, it seemed to them to be an act of 
intolerable tyranny. 

Beginnings of Colonial Union — The Stamp Act Con- 
gress. — The Massachusetts assembly took the first impor- 
tant step against this attempt at unlawful taxation, by invit- 
ing the different colonial assemblies to send delegates to a gen- 
eral convention in opposition to the Stamp Act. The invita- 
tion was accepted, and representatives from nine colonies 
met October 7, 1765, in the New York city hall, in what has 

1 This was the Statutum de Tallagie, by which the right of arbitrarily tax- 
ing the citizens and burgesses was relinquished in these words: " No tallage 
or aid shall be taken or levied by us or our heirs, in our realm, without the 
good will and assent of the archbishops, earls, barons, knights, burgesses and 
other freemen of the land." 



226 GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION. 

since been known as the Stamp Act Congress. This Con- 
gress or meeting drew up a memorial to Parliament, a peti- 
tion to the king, and a declaration of rights, in which it was 
asserted that the people of the colonies " are entitled to all 
the inherent rights and liberties of the king's natural born 
subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain ; that it is in- 
separably essential to the freedom of a people and the un- 
doubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed 
upon them, but by their consent, given personally, or by 
their representatives " ; and that " the only representatives of 
the people of these colonies are persons cliosen by themselves 
therein " / and " that no taxes ever have been, or can be 
constitutionally imposed upon them, but by their respective 
legislatures." Every patriotic young American knows how 
Parliament, frightened into the repeal of the Stamp Act, 
still insisted upon levying an impost duty on tea; of the 
struggle which followed the attempt to force this taxed tea 
upon the people ; of the Boston " tea party " ; of the closing 
of the port of Boston, and the taking away of the chartered 
liberties of Massachusetts. 1 

The First Continental Congress. — The people of all the 
colonies smarted under the wrongs inflicted on Massa- 
chusetts ; for they saw in them danger not only to Massa- 
chusetts, but to the liberty of every British subject on this 
side of the Atlantic. Everywhere, throughout the colonies, 
there flamed out a sentiment in favor of resistance. The 
result was the calling of the First Continental Congress. It 
met at Philadelphia, September, 1774, every colony except 

1 Parliament took from the selectmen of the Massachusetts towns the 
power to summon juries, and gave this power to sheriffs appointed by the 
king. Town meetings were prohibited, and judges, justices of the peace, and 
other officers formerly elected by the people, were appointed by the king or 
by his representative. 



THE STATE AXD THE UNITED STATES. 227 

Georgia being represented by delegates chosen by its pro- 
vincial assembly. The Continental Congress had no power 
to make laws, but it prepared a general plan for commercial 
nonintercourse with Great Britain, drew up a declaration of 
rights and a petition to Parliament and to the king in which 
it asked that English subjects on this side of the Atlantic 
be given " equal freedom " with Englishmen everywhere. 

The Second Continental Congress. — Meanwhile British 
troops assembled at Boston, set out on their memorable ex- 
pedition to destroy the military stores gathered by the 
Massachusetts patriots at Concord. On the morning of 
April 19, 1775, there was fired at the north bridge " the shot 
heard round the world." A few days later the Second 
Continental Congress, composed of delegates, chosen 
principally by conventions of the people in the different 
provinces, though some were still sent by the provincial as- 
semblies, met at Philadelphia. This Congress at once as- 
sumed charge of the common war against Great Britain ; 
began the enrollment of troops for the colonies ; assigned 
quotas of men and money to be raised by the different 
colonies; and appointed George Washington commander in 
chief of the colonial forces, — henceforth known as the Con- 
tinental Army. To these revolutionary acts the people of 
the several colonies generally assented. 

The Government of the United States Begins in the 
Continental Congress. — From the time that the Continental 
Congress assumed the right to manage the common cause 
of the colonies, it is safe to say that our existence as a na- 
tion began ; ■ and the separate colonies, which had before 

] " This (the Continental Congress) was the first organization of the 
American state. From the moment of its existence there was something 
more on this side of the Atlantic than thirteen local governments. There 



228 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

been subject to Great Britain, now became voluntarily sub- 
ject to their representatives in the Continental Congress. 
The authority of Congress did not however rest upon any 
definite grant of power by the colonies. It was assumed by 
Congress and acquiesced in by the people. Congress 
planned and recommended, and its plans and recommenda- 
tions were voluntarily carried out, under the stress of war, 
by provincial congresses chosen by the people of the differ- 
ent colonies. 

The Declaration of Independence. — Sentiment for union 
among the colonies and in favor of separation from Great 
Britain now became almost universal. On May 10, 1776, 
the Third Continental Congress sitting at Philadelphia, 
" recommended that the several assemblies and conventions 
of the United States Colonies " adopt in each colony " such 
a government as shall in the opinion of the representatives 
of the people best conduce to the happiness and safety of 
their constituents in particular, and America in general." 
In plain words, this was a recommendation that each colony 
organize its own government independent of Great Britain. 
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress acting " as the 
representatives of the United States of America," 1 adopted 
the Declaration of Independence, which formally separated 
the colonies from Great Britain. In this declaration, it was 
asserted that " these United Colonies, are and of a right, 
ought to be free and independent states ; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British Crown," " and that' 

was a sovereignty, a state ; not an idea simply on paper, but in fact and in 
organization. The revolution was an accomplished fact before the Declara- 
tion of 1776, and so was independence." — Burgess, Political Science and 
Constitutional Law. 
1 Heading of the Declaration of Independence. 



THE STATE AXD THE LXITED STATES. 229 

as free and independent states they have full power to levy 
war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce 
and do all other acts and things which independent states 
may of right do." Such was the formal birth of the nation, 
of which New York is now one of forty-five local common- 
wealths or States. 

The Articles of Confederation. — Thus far the authority 
of the Continental Congress, which had put forth the Declara- 
tion of Independence, raised armies, laid taxes, and con- 
tracted a common debt for the colonies to carry on their 
common war, had been an authority of undefined powers, 
voluntarily submitted to by the people of the colonies act- 
ing through the several provincial congresses, or legisla- 
tures, which they had chosen. The people now saw the 
need of a central government with definitely granted 
authority and specifically defined powers. Congress had 
previously appointed a committee from among its members 
to draw up such a plan of government. This plan was re- 
ported by the committee, eight days after the adoption by 
Congress of the Declaration of Independence. It was de- 
bated by Congress and adopted November 15, 1777, in the 
form of " Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union 
Between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, 
Rhole Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia." The 
Articles of Confederation, thus adopted, were submitted to 
the legislatures of the thirteen States, each legislature. being 
advised to authorize its delegates in the Continental Con- 
gress to ratify or agree to the articles for the State. The 
ratification of the last State — Maryland — was secured March 
I, 1781. 



230 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

Government Under the Articles of Confederation. — 

The ratification of the Articles of Confederation made the 
United States a nation in law, as well as in fact. Under 
these articles the United States occupied a position with 
reference to the several States, somewhat like that which 
Great Britain had occupied towards the several colonies. 
The articles affirmed that each State retained " its sov- 
ereignty, freedom and independence and every power 
jurisdiction and right," " not by this confederation espe- 
cially delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." 
They also declared that the States " hereby severally enter 
into a firm league of friendship with each other for their 
common defence, the security of their liberties and their 
mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each 
other against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, 
or any of them." This was the form of government known 
as a confederacy, or union of States, rather than a govern- 
ment set up by the people of a single Federal state. 1 

Congress the Central Government of the Confedera- 
tion. — Congress was the government of the United States 
under the Articles of Confederation, as it had been before 
the adoption of these articles. It was composed of from 
two to seven delegates from each State chosen annually by 

1 Professor Burgess in Political Science and Constitutional Law, thus dis- 
tinguishes a confederacy from a federal form of government like that of the 
United States to-day : " Confederate government is the form in which, as to 
territory and population, the state (nation) is coextensive in its organization 
with the organization of the local government. Federal government is the 
form in which, as to territory and population, the state (nation) is coexten- 
sive in its organization with the organization of the general government. In 
a confederate system there are several States, an equal number of local 
governments and one central government. In the federal system we have 
one state, one central government and several local governments." 



THE STATE AND THE i' XI TED STATES. 231 

its legislature. Each State had a single vote in Congress, 
no matter how many delegates it sent. Each paid the ex- 
penses of its own delegates, and a State might at any time 
recall a delegate and send another in his place. The articles 
gave Congress power to regulate and control the foreign 
relations of the several States and of the United States ; 
and the control of the army and navy of the United States ; 
and no State could maintain an army or navy without the 
consent of Congress. Congress had charge of the national 
finances ; determined the value of coin and the standard of 
weights and measures ; and was the last resort in all dis- 
putes between the States. There were no separate depart- 
ments in the new government, but all powers, legislative, 
executive and judiciary, were exercised by Congress which 
met as a single house. The executive work of Congress 
was conducted chiefly by a committee of one member from 
each State known as the " Committee of States." 

Weakness of Government Under the Confederation. — 
In the form of national government prescribed by the 
Articles of Confederation, there were many weaknesses and 
defects, which finally resulted in its entire overthrow, and 
the adoption of a new form of government under the 
present Constitution of the United States. The main defect 
was the inability of Congress to enforce any of its own 
acts, against the wishes or indifference of individual States. 
Congress " could ask the States for money but could not 
compel them to give it ; it could ask them for troops but 
could not force them to heed the requisition ; it could 
make treaties with foreign nations, but must trust the States 
to fulfill them ; it could contract debts but must rely upon 
the States to pay them." l It could not compel the States 

1 The State, Woodrow Wilson. 



232 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

to abide by its decision in disputes among themselves. In 
short, the government of the United States lacked executive 
power. Foreign nations would not enter into treaties with 
the United States because the government could not compel 
the States to observe those treaties. Finally the vital 
power to levy and collect taxes was wholly lacking, except 
as the Articles of Confederation gave Congress power to 
" ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the 
service of the United States," x and power to apportion the 
rate of proportion to be paid by each State. The taxes 
themselves were to be " laid and levied by the authority 
and direction of the legislatures of the several States." 2 If 
a State legislature neglected or refused to act, Congress 
could not collect a dollar from the State. 

Need of a Stronger National Government Recog- 
nized. — The central government struggled for six years 
against the burden of weakness imposed by the insufficient 
executive power granted to Congress, gathering a constantly 
increasing harvest of disrespect at home and contempt 
abroad. Year after year States failed to pay their propor- 
tion of the national taxes apportioned by Congress. Paper 
money issued by the national government became almost 
worthless, and Congress with great difficulty borrowed 
money from France, Holland, and Spain, to pay the running 
expenses of the government. Commerce fell into decay. 
Different States enacted burdensome tariff laws against the 
products of neighboring States. Some States, to save ex- 
pense, neglected to send delegates to Congress. Unpaid 
soldiers of the continental forces mutinied, and insulted 
Congress at its very doors. Rebellious outbreaks occurred 

1 Articles of Confederation, Article IX. 

2 Articles of Confederation, Article VIII. 



THE STATE AXD THE UNITED STATES. 233 

in a number of States. Spain threatened to make trouble 
over the navigation of the Mississippi, and Great Britain, 
although the war of the revolution had ended, refused to 
withdraw her troops from our western borders. The coun- 
try became rapidly convinced of the need of a stronger 
national government. 

Call for a Convention to Frame a New National 
Government. — In 1786, delegates from five States met in 
convention at Annapolis, Md., to discuss the regulation of 
commerce among the different States. Members of this 
meeting proposed a convention of delegates from all the 
States, " to take into consideration the situation of the United 
States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to 
them necessary to render the constitution of the Federal 
government adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and to 
report such an act for that purpose to the United States in 
Congress assembled." This proposition was sent to the 
legislatures of all the States. It was also sent to Congress, 
which approved the calling of the convention. 

The Constitutional Convention.— Delegates to the pro- 
posed convention were chosen by the legislatures of all the 
States except Rhode Island, and it met in May, 1787, at 
Philadelphia. It was composed of fifty-five delegates, among 
them being the most distinguished men of the country. 
Washington was chosen president of the convention, which 
sat with closed doors and debated all questions in secret. 
Each State, as in the Continental Congress, had a single 
vote. The convention proceeded to draft the present con- 
stitution of the United States, placing in it an article * to the 
effect that when conventions of the people in nine States 
should agree to the proposed new constitution, it should be- 

1 United States Constitution, Article VII. 
Hoxfe's N. V.— 15 



234 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

come binding law for those States. The convention then 
sent the proposed constitution to the Continental Congress, 
advising that body to agree to it, and to send it unamended 
to conventions to be called in the different States for its 
ratification. 

The Constitution Ratified by State Conventions. — A 
convention chosen by the voters of Delaware was the first 
to agree to the proposed constitution, as recommended by 
Congress and by the national constitutional convention. 
This was soon followed by the ratification of the constitution 
by the convention in Pennsylvania. By June, 1788, conven- 
tions chosen in nine States had formally ratified the new con- 
stitution. By August two more States had agreed to it, and 
Congress, in September, 1788, appointed the first Wednes- 
day of the following February, as the time for the election 
of a president and vice president of the United States under 
the new constitution. 1 It also appointed the first Wednes- 
day in March (March 4, 1789), as the time for the organ- 
ization of the new government of the United States. The 
authority of the old Continental Congress, authorized by the 
Articles of Confederation, then ceased. On March 4, the 
Congress of the United States under the new constitution, 
assembled in New York, and on April 30, George Washing- 
ton was formally inaugurated as the first President of the 
United States. Such was the birth of the United States of 
America under the constitution now in force. 

SUMMARY. 

New York is one of forty-five local commonwealths or 
States in the national state, known as the United States. 

1 Rhode Island and North Carolina did not ratify the Constitution until the 
year after the new government of the United States went into effect. 



THE STATE AXD THE UNITED STATES. 



235 



The government of the United States began in the Con- 
tinental Congress, whose acts were acquiesced in, and whose 
recommendations were voluntarily carried out by the thir- 
teen colonies, under stress of war during the American 
Revolution. 

The Declaration of Independence formally separated the 
American colonies from Great Britain ; and the adoption of 
the Articles of Confederation made the United States a 
nation in law, as well as in fact. 

Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was the 
government of the United States. Congress consisted of a 
single legislative body, in which each State had one vote. 
There were no separate executive and judiciary departments 
in the national government. 

The chief fault of government under the Articles of Con- 
federation was the inability of Congress to collect taxes and 
enforce any laws of the United States. Congress could only 
recommend and advise, leaving its wishes to be carried out 
by the separate State governments. 

The need of a stronger national government resulted in 
the calling of the constitutional convention of 1787, which 
framed the present constitution of the United States. The 
constitution was submitted to conventions of the people in 
the several States, with the understanding that, when rati- 
fied by nine States, it should become the legal basis of a 
national government for those States. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is the meaning of the word " state" as applied to 
New York ? As applied to the United States ? 

What functions did the so-called " Provincial Congresses " 
perform during the Revolutionary War? 



236 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

When may the actual government of the United States be 
said to have begun ? Was this government voluntary or 
compulsory so far as the individual States were concerned ? 
What formal document made the United States a govern- 
ment in law, as well as in fact ? 

Describe generally the powers of Congress under the Ar- 
ticles of Confederation. How were the States represented 
in Congress? What was their relative power one to an- 
other in that body ? 

What is the difference between a confederation and a 
federal state ? Which of these terms now applies to the 
United States ? 

Describe generally, the weakness of the government of 
the United States under the Articles of Confederation. 

Give in detail the steps leading up to the calling of the 
constitutional convention of 1787. How were delegates to 
that convention chosen ? What were the relative powers 
of the States in the convention ? What part had the people 
of the United States in the ratification of the constitution 
framed by this convention ? When and where did the 
government of the United States under the present consti- 
tution begin ? 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

For an account of government under the Articles of Confederation, 
and the growth of the idea of the need of a stronger national govern- 
ment, with an account of events leading up to the adoption of the 
present constitution of the United States, see Hildreth's History of the 
United States, Volume III., Chapters XLIV. to XLVIII. See in the 
same connection Schouler's Constitutional Studies, Part II., Chapters 
III. and IV., "Articles of Confederation," and "The Federal Con- 
stitution; Its Nature and Establishment." For an account of the 
legal aspects of the change from government under the Articles of 



THE STATE AXD THE UNITED STATES. 237 

Confederation to the present constitution, see Burgess's Political 
Science and Constitutional Law, Part I., Book III., Chapter II., 
" History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States." 
Johnston's American Politics contains in its appendix, the full text of 
the Articles of Confederation. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The United States, the States, and the People. 

Let us look at the government established by the 
constitution of the United States, and at the rights and 
duties of the national government, of the States, and of the 
people, under that constitution. 

The United States a Nation. — First, the United States 
is, under the present constitution, one indivisible national 
state * and not a league of States with a central national 
government, as under the old Articles of Confederation. 
The difference may be shown by a comparison. 

A Comparison. — Under the Articles of Confederation, 
Congress — ,then constituting the government of the United 
States — dealt almost exclusively with the governments of 
the several States. Under the present constitution the gov- 
ernment of the United States deals chiefly with the people of 
the United States, and but little with the governments of 
the several States. Under the Articles of Confederation, if 
Congress wanted money, it applied to the governments of 
the several States. Now, the government of the United 
States collects taxes directly from the people by its own 
revenue officers located in every State. Under the Articles 
of Confederation members of Congress were elected by 
State legislatures ; when they voted the members from each 

1 " The state is a particular portion of mankind viewed as an organized 
unit." — Burgess, Political Science and Constitutional Law. 
238 



THE STATES, AND THE PEOPLE. 239 

State voted as a unit, casting a single ballot for their State. 
Under the present constitution members of the United 
States Congress (except senators) are chosen by direct vote 
of the people, and all congressmen vote in Congress as in- 
dividuals. Under the Articles of Confederation each State 
admitted foreigners to citizenship. To-day the government 
of the United States alone admits foreigners to citizenship. 1 
The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the legisla- 
tures of the several States. The present constitution, ac- 
cording to its own preamble, is the work of " the people of 
the United States " adopted " to form a more perfect union." 
Finally, as still further showing the oneness of the United 
States under the present constitution, all members of the 
several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial of- 
ficers of the States, must on taking office, swear or affirm 
that they will support the constitution of the United States. 2 
The United States a Permanent and Indissoluble Union. 
— It was held by some, after the adoption of the present 
constitution, and down to the time of the Civil War of 
1 86 1 -5, that a State had a legal right to withdraw from the 
Union established by the constitution, if its people saw fit. 
Eleven States, we know, did attempt to secede from the 
Union at the time of the civil war. They recalled their rep- 
resentatives in the United States Congress, and tried to set 
up a government known as the " Confederate States of 
America." A majority of the people of the United States 
did not believe, however, in this right of a State to with- 
draw from the Union ; and the so-called Confederate States, 
as a result of the Civil War, were forced back into the United 

■See United States Constitution, XlVth Amendment; also Chapter XII., 
"The Right to Vote." 

2 United States Constitution, Article VI., Section 3. 



240 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

States. Indeed, it is claimed that -these States were never 
legally out of the Union. 

The People and the Government. — In studying the gov- 
ernment established by the constitution of the United 
States, we must keep in mind: I. That the real United 
States consists of the people of the United States united for 
purposes of government. The people thus constituted are 
the real national state, as the people of New York, united 
for purposes of government, are the real New York State. 
2. That the people, in adopting the constitution, laid down 
in outline the framework and machinery of a national gov- 
ernment known as the government of the United States, 
which is superior for certain purposes to the governments 
of the several States. 3. That back of the constitution, 
back of the national government which the constitution 
establishes, and back of the governments of the several 
States, stand the people of the United States — the organized 
political unit, the national state. The people thus con- 
stituted are the supreme law-making power. The people 
may change their constitution and form of government as 
they see fit, having always due regard to the legal forms 
under which they have ordained that such changes shall be 
made. 

The Constitution the Supreme Law. — The fundamental 
law of the United States is laid down by the people in the 
written constitution of the United States and in its amend- 
ments. The constitution " and the laws of the United 
States made in pursuance thereof" are the supreme law of 
the land. 1 All statutes passed by the Congress of the 
United States or by any State legislature, must be in accord 
with the constitution of the United States ; and anything in 
1 United States Constitution, Article VI., Section 2. 



THE STATES, AXD 'THE PEOPLE. 241 

the constitution or statutes of any State not in accord with 
the constitution of the United States is void and of no 
effect. 

State Governments Independent of the National Gov- 
ernment for State Purposes. — But while the constitution 
and laws of the United States are the supreme law of the 
land, we must not fall into the error of regarding the 
authority of the several State governments as derived 
primarily from the constitution. Neither must we think 
that the State governments depend in any way for their 
existence upon the will of the national government. On 
the contrary, the State governments existed before our pres- 
ent constitution and national government, and their author- 
ity, like the authority of the government of the United 
States, comes from the people alone. 

Division of the Powers of Government. — Under the 
constitution of the United States the people have divided 
the powers of government into : 

1. Powers to be exercised by the government of the 
United States ; 

2. Powers to be exercised by the governments of the 
several States ; 

3. Powers to be exercised by none of these govern- 
ments, but reserved to the people. 

The Government of the United States One of Specific- 
ally Given Powers. — The tenth amendment to the con- 
stitution of the United States declares " that the powers not 
delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor pro- 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively or to the people." This makes the govern- 
ment of the United States one of powers specifically given 
to it by the constitution, and leaves all other powers to the 



242 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

States or to the people. Hence, should the question arise, 
" Does a power belong to the government of the United 
States ? " the answer is, " Yes, if the constitution gives it to 
the United States ; no, if the constitution does not give it to 
the United States." 

Concurrent Powers. — The constitution permits certain 
powers, such as the right of taxation, to be exercised both by 
the government of the United States and by the governments 
of the several States. Such powers are known as " con- 
current powers." Should at any time a conflict of authority 
arise between the United States and a State, over the ex- 
ercise of a so-called concurrent power, the State must yield 
to the government of the United States. 1 

Prohibited Powers. — Finally, the people, through the 
constitution, have prohibited both the government of the 
United States and the governments of the several States 
from exercising certain specified powers. These prohibited 
powers are reserved in the people, and cannot be exercised 
by government unless the constitution is changed. 

Powers Exercised by the Government of the United 
States. — Certain powers are exercised by the government 
of the United^ States only. These are "powers that relate 
to the conduct of the foreign relations of the country and 
to such common national purposes as the army and navy, 
internal commerce, weights and measures, and the post 
office, with provisions for the management of the ma- 
chinery " " charged with these purposes." 2 Other powers, as 
we have seen, may be exercised both by the government of 
the United States and by the States. Among these latter 
are the power to make laws on certain specified subjects, 

1 139 United States Reports, p. 240; 158 United States Reports, p. 98. 

2 Bryce, American Commonwealth. 



THE STATES, AXD THE PEOPLE. 243 

such as bankruptcy, and the power to tax. The rule in the 
exercise of such concurrent powers is, that State laws take 
effect only when the United States has made no law upon 
the particular subject. 

Control of Foreign Relations. — The government of the 
United States has entire control over our relations with the 
people and governments of foreign nations. Thus United 
States tariff laws tax goods brought into this country ; 
while the United States senate, in conjunction with the 
president, may make agreements to admit free, or at a low 
rate of duty, the products of foreign nations that freely ad- 
mit the products of the United States. Such an agreement 
is called a " Reciprocity Treaty." The government of the 
United States naturalizes foreigners, and admits them to 
citizenship ; prohibits undesirable immigrants, such as 
anarchists, paupers, and criminals, from entering our terri- 
tory; sends ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, to repre- 
sent the United States before foreign governments ; and 
receives similar officials sent to us. No State may hold 
any official intercourse with the government of a foreign 
nation. 

Control on the High Seas. — As the government of the 
United States controls our foreign relations, so it controls 
citizens of the United States when on the high seas or on the 
tidewaters of the United States. Generally speaking the so- 
called " high seas " are the great body of ocean waters lying 
outside of a line drawn a marine league (about three miles) 
from the shore. Each nation controls the water within a 
marine league of the shore, as it controls its land. Outside 
this line no nation has exclusive control, except over its own 
citizens. The constitution gives Congress power to define 
and punish piracies and felonies and offenses against the law 



244 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

of nations, when committed on the high seas by citizens of 
the United States. 1 

War Powers. — The Congress of the United States may 
declare war, and the president in conjunction with the 
senate, may make treaties of peace. But war cannot be 
carried on or peace guaranteed without the strong arm of 
the soldier and sailor. So the constitution gives Congress 
power to " raise and support armies," to " provide and main- 
tain a navy," and to make rules for their government. Con- 
gress may also authorize private persons to fit out so-called 
" privateers," or fighting vessels to prey upon the commerce 
of an enemy of the United States. This is described in the 
constitution as "granting letters of marque and reprisal." 2 
The word " marque " comes from the French, and means 
literally, the visible sign or mark of the government which 
gives a privateer authority to make captures. Without this 
" marque," or sign of authority, a private fighting vessel 
is a pirate, and at the mercy of the armed vessels of every 
nation. 

Power Over the Militia. 3 — Besides its power to raise and 
support armies, Congress " may provide for arming and 
disciplining the militia." The militia is composed generally 
of all able-bodied men between eighteen and forty-five years 
of age in the several States. The militia may be called out 
by Congress " to execute the laws of the United States, sup- 
press insurrections, and repel invasions." When in the 
service of the United States the militia, like the regular 

1 See United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. "The United 
States has no control over any criminal act committed upon a foreign ship by 
the subjects of a foreign nation when on the high seas." — Schouler. 

2 See United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 

3 United States Constitution, Article I., Sections 8, io. 



77//: STATES, AXD THE PEOPLE. 245 

army and navy, is under the direction of the president. No 
State may make peace or declare war, but each State may 
organize, drill, and officer its own militia "according to rules 
prescribed by Congress," and a State may use its militia to 
preserve peace within its borders. 

Power to Tax. — The United States Congress has power 
to " lay and collect all taxes, duties, imports and excises to 
[*. c, in order to] pay the debts and provide for the common 
defense and general welfare of the United States." United 
States duties or imports are now collected under so-called 
tariff laws at United States customhouses on goods imported 
to this country. United States excise taxes — that is, taxes 
on articles produced in this country — are collected as so- 
called " Internal Revenue." For the collection of internal 
revenue, the territory of the United States is divided into 
internal revenue districts, each under its own collector of 
internal revenue, appointed by the president with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. 1 Duties, imports and excises are 
" indirect taxes." Congress has power to collect so-called 
" direct taxes " on persons, and on the value of their prop- 
erty or their incomes. But direct taxes must be apportioned 
among the States in proportion to their population. Con- 
gress may lay no taxes on goods exported from any State ; 
and, finally, " all duties, imports and excises," must be 
" uniform throughout the United States." 

Power to Borrow Money. — Should the money raised by 
taxation be insufficient for the needs of the government, 
Congress is given power " to borrow money on the credit of 
the United States." 2 This is usually done by selling bonds 
of the United States. A bond is a promise to pay a certain 

1 See Chapter XIX., "The Assessment and Collection of Taxes." 

2 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 



246 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

definite sum at a future date with a fixed rate of interest. 
United States bonds are advertised and sold in the open 
market. They are readily purchased by our own citizens, 
and by foreigners, who wish a safe investment and a sure 
income from their surplus money. 

Power to Regulate Commerce. — We have seen that 
Congress may regulate our commerce with foreign countries 
by tariff laws and reciprocity treaties. The government of 
the United States may go even further, and entirely prohibit 
our commerce with a foreign nation, as was done under the 
so-called Embargo Act preceding the War of 1812. Under 
its power to regulate commerce, and its further power to 
control our citizens on the high seas, Congress has enacted 
a great body of navigation laws, 1 which regulate the conduct 
of American ships and sailors ; and under which lighthouses, 
buoys and life-saving stations have been placed along our 
coasts, under which pilots act, wrecks are saved and wreckers 
compensated. The same power enables Congress to act in 
conjunction with the States to prevent the introduction of 
contagious diseases, by so-called quarantine regulations at 
the ports of the United States. 

Interstate Commerce. — Besides its power to regulate 
foreign commerce, Congress regulates commerce " among 
the States and with the Indian tribes." 2 Commerce among 
the States is known as " Interstate Commerce," to distinguish 
it from commerce carried on entirely within the borders of 
a single State. A man in Chicago who sends a carload of 
dressed beef to a man in New York, is engaged in interstate 
commerce, for the beef passes not only from Illinois to New 

1 Cases arising under the navigation laws are tried in United States 
courts, known as admiralty courts. 

2 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 



THE STATES, A XT THE PEOPLE. 247 

York, but also through intervening States. Such commerce 
is regulated by Congress. So, also, are all railroads, tele- 
graph lines, canals, steamboats, navigable rivers, bridges, or 
other means of transportation and communication between 
two or more States. On the other hand, the shipment of a 
cargo of flour from Rochester to Albany, is an act of com- 
merce carried on wholly within a single State, and as such 
is subject only to State law. 

Under its power to regulate interstate commerce, Congress 
established in 1887 the Interstate Commerce Commission, 
with power to prevent unfair discrimination in railroad rates 
on goods passing from one State to another. In 1890 Con- 
gress also enacted the so-called Anti-Trust law, designed to 
prevent combinations of capital in restraint of trade between 
the people of two or more States. No State may tax or in 
any way restrain trade with foreign countries, or between 
the people of two or more States. But a State may tax 
articles brought into it from another State, so long as the 
same tax is shared equally by its own local trade. It may 
lay impost duties necessary to maintain its own laws for the 
inspection of food and other products, such duties being 
subject to revision by Congress. 

Bankruptcy. — Closely related to its power over interstate 
commerce, is the power of Congress to " make uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcy throughout the United States." l 
A bankrupt is a person who cannot pay his just debts. 
Bankruptcy laws are designed to release bankrupt debtors 
from the legal obligations to pay their debts, provided the 
bankrupt gives up the property he possesses, to be divided 
among those whom he owes. A debtor, released under 
bankruptcy laws from the legal obligation to pay his debts, 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 



248 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

may begin business again with the hope of retaining his 
future earnings. 

Post Offices and Post Roads. — Congress is given power 
by the constitution to establish post offices and post roads 
throughout the territory of the United States. 1 This power 
includes every power necessary to establish a complete 
postal system under United States control, including the 
power to protect and carry the mails, and to punish as 
crimes acts that interfere with their prompt and safe de- 
livery. 2 Under this- power it is claimed by some that the 
government of the United States may, if necessary, con- 
struct independent national highways, or even buy up and 
operate the great railroad and telegraph systems of the 
country for postal purposes. 

Power to Coin Money. — The constitution gives Con- 
gress power to coin money, to regulate its value, and the 
value of foreign coins in use in the United States ; also 
power to punish counterfeiters of United States money, and 
power to fix a standard of weights and measures through- 
out the United States. 3 Under these powers the national 
government has established mints where gold, silver, and 
other metals are coined into the money of the United 
States. Besides this metal money, the national govern- 
ment issues paper money known as gold certificates, silver 
certificates, and treasury notes or greenbacks. Each gold 
or silver certificate represents an amount of gold or silver 
coin or bullion, deposited in the United States treasury, 
equal to the face value of the certificate ; and a person hold- 
ing such a certificate, may present it at any time at the 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 

2 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations. 

3 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 



THE STATES, AXD THE PEG PEE. 249 

treasury, and receive gold or silver for it. A United States 
treasury note or greenback, on the contrary, is a simple 
paper promise of the United States to pay the sum printed 
on the face of the note. There are now in existence $346,- 
000,000 of these treasury notes or greenbacks, and $150,- 
000,000 in gold is kept on deposit in the United States 
treasury to redeem these notes, should their holders wish 
to get gold. 

Patents and Copyrights. — The government of the United 
States protects inventors by patents and authors by copy- 
rights. 1 A patent gives an inventor the exclusive right to 
make and sell his invention anywhere in the United States, 
for a term of seventeen years. A copyright gives an au- 
thor of a book the exclusive right to make and sell it for a 
term of twenty-eight years ; and this may be extended 
fourteen years more on application. We have also an in- 
ternational copyright law, which gives foreign authors a 
right to copyright books in the United States, in return for 
similar privileges granted by foreign governments to Ameri- 
can authors. 

United States Control Over Federal Places. — The gov- 
ernment of the United States has exclusive control over the 
District of Columbia, containing the seat of the national 
government, and the city of Washington. Congress makes 
laws for this district, and the president of the United States 
appoints its executive and judicial officers ; and no person 
may vote while having a legal residence in the District of 
Columbia. 

Similar authority is exercised by Congress over all 
United States property used for forts, arsenals, dock- 
yards, etc. 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 
Hone's X. V.-16 



250 GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION. 

United States Territory. — At the close of the Revolution- 
ary War the thirteen American colonies claimed the land 
lying between the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi. 
Most of it was unsettled and the claims of two or more col- 
onies often overlapped and conflicted. During the forma- 
tion of the union under the Articles of Confederation the 
States gave up their individual claims to this land, ceding it 
to the United States, on the understanding that it should be 
cut up into States, on acquiring sufficient population. There 
was thus created a territory belonging to the United States, 
and independent of the control of any particular State. 
Since then the government of the United States, by pur- 
chase, exploration and conquest, has extended the territory 
of the United States to include the vast domain lying be- 
tween the Mississippi and the Pacific. Alaska, Hawaii, the 
Philippines, and other islands, have also become United 
States territory. All this territory is, or has been at some 
time, under the exclusive control of the United States. 

Government of United States Territory. — The power to 
govern United States territory is placed by the constitution 
in the hands of Congress. 1 Over portions thinly settled, 
and inhabited chiefly by Indians and others incapable of 
self-government, Congress has established a form of govern- 
ment known as the unorganized Territory, consisting prin- 
cipally of a Territorial Governor and Territorial Judges, ap- 
pointed by the president of the United States. These offi- 
cers simply execute the laws made by Congress for the 
territory. Over other portions of United States territory, 
containing a larger proportion of people capable of self- 
government, Congress has established a form of government 
known as the organized Territory. This includes a Terri- 

1 United States Constitution, Article IV., Section 3. 



THE STATES, AXD THE PEOPLE. 251 

torial governor, a Territorial secretary and a Territorial 
treasurer, appointed by the president, and a Territorial legis- 
lature elected by the people of the Territory. The Territorial 
legislature makes local laws for the Territory, subject to the 
approval of Congress. New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ari- 
zona have this form of organized Territorial government. 
Alaska and Indian Territory are unorganized Territories. 
A Territory of the United States is represented in Congress 
by its own Territorial delegate, who has a right to speak, 
but not to vote. 

How Territories Become States. — When an organized 
Territory becomes sufficiently populous and capable of self- 
government, it may apply to Congress for admission into 
the Union as a State. If Congress favors its admission, it 
passes a law authorizing the Territory to form a State gov- 
ernment. This law is called the enabling act. The gov- 
ernor of the Territory then calls on its voters to elect dele- 
gates to a Territorial convention, similar to a State con- 
stitutional convention. The Territorial convention, when 
assembled, adopts the constitution of the United States for 
the people of the Territory, and proceeds to frame a State 
constitution. This is submitted to the voters of the Terri- 
tory, and if adopted by them, the fact is certified to the 
president of the United States. If the new constitution is 
found to be in accord with the constitution of the United 
States, the president issues a proclamation declaring the 
Territory to be admitted into the Union as a State. This 
entitles it to all the privileges of the older States. 

Other Powers of Congress — Such are some of the 
specific powers given by the constitution to be exercised by 
the government of the United States.' Besides these 
specified powers the constitution gives Congress power to 



252 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

make all laws necessary to carry into effect these and all 
other powers, " vested by the constitution in the govern- 
ment of the United States or in any department or officer 
thereof." 1 Thus the people, by a single sweeping provision, 
have authorized the national government to exercise all 
powers necessary to "form the more perfect union," 
" establish justice," and " promote the general welfare," 2 de- 
signed to be accomplished by our present constitution. 

Powers of the Several States. — With such vast powers 
given to the national government, the question naturally 
arises, What powers of importance are left to be exercised 
by the governments of the several States ? The answer is : 
That the States may exercise all powers (i) not specifically 
given by the constitution to the government of the United 
States ; (2) not specifically forbidden by the constitution to 
be exercised by the several States; and (3) not reserved to 
the people. The powers thus left to the several States are 
vast and varied. While excluding every power relating to 
the control of our foreign relations, and to affairs of strictly 
national concern, they include the great body of civil and 
criminal law regulating persons and property in the daily 
walks of life. 3 Powers left with the States are thus sum- 
marized by Mr. Woodrow Wilson in The State: 

" All the civil and religious rights of our citizens depend upon State 
legislation : the education of the people is in the care of the States ; 
with them rests the regulation of the suffrage; they prescribe the 
rules of marriage and the legal relations of husband and wife, of 
parent and child ; they determine the powers of masters over servants 
and the whole law of principal and agent, which is so vital a matter 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 

2 Preamble to the Constitution. 

3 See Chapter VIII., " The State and the People Who Made It." 



THE STATES, AXD THE PEOPLE. 253 

in all business transactions ; they regulate partnership, debt and 
credit and insurance ; they constitute all corporations, both private 
and municipal, except such as specially fulfill the financial and other 
specific functions of the Federal Government ; they control the pos- 
session, distribution and use of property, the exercise of trades and all 
contract relations ; and they formulate and administer all criminal 
law except that which concerns crimes committed against the United 
States, on the high seas, or against the law of nations. Space would 
fail to enumerate the particular items of this vast range of power ; to 
detail its parts would be to catalogue all social and business relation- 
ships, to set forth all foundations of law and order." 

Powers Forbidden to the Government of the United 

States. 1 — The national government is forbidden to suspend 
the Writ of Habeas Corpus " unless when in cases of re- 
bellion or invasion the public safety may require it." 2 

No bill of attainder or Ex post facto law may be passed 
by Congress. Under certain old English laws the convic- 
tion of a person for a great crime was said to attaint or stain 
his blood, so that his innocent children suffered in con- 
sequence of their father's act. Such attainder of blood was 
frequently produced by bills passed by Parliament, without 
a formal trial of the accused person in a court of justice. 
An Ex post facto law reaches back to make an act com- 
mitted before the law was passed a crime, when previous to 
the enactment of the law it was not a legal offense ; or it 
may increase the penalty for a crime committed before the 
law was passed. Such laws are manifestly unjust. 

Xo capitation or other direct tax may be laid by Con- 
gress, except in proportion to population among the several 
States, as determined by census. 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 9. 

2 See Chapter XI., " Personal Rights." 



254 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

No tax may be laid by the government of the United 
States on articles exported from any State. 

No preference may be given to the ports of one State 
over another by any regulation of commerce or revenue. 

No money may be drawn from the United States treasury 
except in consequence of appropriations made by law. 

No title of nobility — such as duke, earl, lord, — may be 
granted by the government of the United States. 

Additional Prohibitions in the First Ten Amendments to 
the Constitution. — All the above-described prohibitions ap- 
pear in Article I., Section 9 of the constitution. After the 
adoption of the original constitution by the convention of 
1787, many of the States refused to ratify it unless ad- 
ditional safeguards to personal liberty were inserted. Ten 
amendments were therefore proposed and adopted, which 
included a number of specific prohibitions against arbitrary 
powers, which it was feared might be exercised by the pro- 
posed national government. These prohibitions were many 
of them taken directly from State constitutions, already in 
successful operation in the several States. 1 Among the acts 
thus forbidden to the government of the United States are 
the following : 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise of re- 
ligion. 

Freedom of speech and of the press, and the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble and petition the government 
or any of its departments for a redress of grievances, cannot 
be abridged. 

1 An interesting comparison may be made by the student between the Bill 
of Rights in the New York Constitution, and these prohibitions in the first ten 
amendments to the constitution of the United States. 



THE STATES, AXD THE PEOPLE. 255 

The right of the people to keep and bear arms may not 
be infringed. 

Xo soldier of the United States may in time of peace be 
quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, 
nor in time of war, except in a manner prescribed by 
law. 

The people are to be secure against unreasonable searches 
and seizures; and no warrants ma)' be issued except for 
probable cause, and except as supported by oath or affir- 
mation, 

Xo person shall be held to answer for a capital or other- 
wise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment 
of a grand jury except in cases arising in the army and 
navy ; nor be subjected to a second trial for the same offense, 
nor be compelled to be a witness against himself, nor be 
deprived of life, liberty or property without due process 
of law. 

Private property may not be taken for public purposes 
without just compensation. 

A person accused of crime must have a speedy and public 
trial, by a jury of the district and State wherein the alleged 
crime was committed. The accused person must be con- 
fronted with the witnesses against him, and the courts must 
compel witnesses in his favor to attend his trial. The 
accused must also be given the right to have counsel to 
assist in his defense. 

Xo suit at common law may be decided where the value 
of the thing in dispute exceeds twenty dollars, without the 
right to a trial of the facts by jury ; and no fact determined 
by a jury can be reexamined, otherwise than according to 
the rules of common law. 

Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines 



256 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments be in- 
flicted. 

All the above prohibitions are against the government of 
the United States. 

Acts Forbidden to the Governments of the Several 
States. 1 — The people through the constitution have forbidden 
the several States : 

To enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; 

To make war without the consent of Congress, unless 
actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay ; 

To coin money or emit bills of credit ; 

To lay imposts or duties on imports or exports, without 
the consent of the government of the United States, except 
that a State may lay such taxes for the purpose of executing 
its own inspection laws ; 2 or 

To keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, except 
with the consent of Congress. 

Prohibitions Against Slavery and Against Infringing the 
Rights of Former Slaves. — In the thirteenth, fourteenth 
and fifteenth amendments to the constitution, adopted 
since the Civil War, the people have prohibited slavery 
throughout the United States ; and forbidden any State to 
abridge the privileges of any citizen of the United States ; 
or to deny to him the right to vote on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. In addition to 
these prohibitions the States are also forbidden to deprive 
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law, or to deny to any person the equal protection of the 
laws. 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 10. 

2 See page 247. 



THE STATES, AXD THE PEOPLE. 257 

States Must Give Credit to the Public Acts and Records 
of Other States. — The constitution requires each State to 
give full faith and credit to all the public acts, records, and 
judicial proceedings, of all the other States ; and declares 
that the citizens of each State are entitled to all the privileges 
and immunities of citizens in every other State. A person 
charged with crime in one State, who flees to another, must 
on demand of the executive authority of the State having 
jurisdiction of the crime, be delivered up to that State. This 
process of securing the return of a criminal to the State 
having authority to try the crime, is, as we have seen, called 
extradition. 

The National Government to Protect the States. — 
The constitution declares that the United States shall 
guarantee to every State a republican form of government, 
and shall protect the States against invasion, and also pro- 
tect a State against domestic violence, when so requested by 
its authorities. 1 

Rights Retained by the People. — The ninth amend- 
ment to the constitution, declares that the enumeration of 
certain rights in the constitution, shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage other rights, retained by the people, 

Amending the Constitution. — Amendments to the con- 
stitution of the United States may be proposed by a two- 
thirds affirmative vote of both houses of Congress; or Con- 
gress may call a convention for proposing amendments, 
when so requested by two-thirds of the legislatures of the 
several States. Amendments so proposed, must, in order to 
become law, be ratified by three fourths of the legislatures 
of the several States, or by conventions called in three fourths 
of the States. 

1 United States Constitution, Article IV., Section 4. 



258 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

SUMMARY. 

The United States is a sovereign, indivisible, federal, 
national state, and not a league of States or commonwealths 
with a central national government. 

An outline of our national government is laid down by 
the people in the constitution of the United States, which 
constitution, and the laws made in pursuance of it, consti- 
tute the supreme law of the land. 

The people have divided the powers of government into 
powers to be exercised by the government of the United 
States, powers to be exercised by the governments of the 
several States, and powers reserved to the people. 

The people have prohibited the government of the United 
States from exercising certain powers, also the governments 
of the several States from exercising certain powers. 

The government of the United States is one of powers 
specifically given to it by the constitution, all other powers 
being left to the States or to the people. 

The government of the United States exercises generally 
such powers as are necessary to regulate our relations with 
foreign nations, and to regulate such matters as concern the 
people of more than a single State. The governments of 
the several States exercise all other powers not prohibited 
to them by the constitution, or not reserved to the 
people. 

Specific prohibitions imposed upon the government of 
the United States, are found in Article I., Section 9, of the 
constitution, and in the first ten amendments, the latter 
being known as the national " Bill of Rights." Prohibitions 
imposed upon the several States are found in Article I., 
Section 10, of the constitution, and in the thirteenth, four- 
teenth and fifteenth amendments. These amendments pro- 



THE STATES, AND THE PEOPLE. 259 

hibit slavery, and guarantee the civil and political rights of 
former slaves. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

How were United States taxes laid and collected under 
the Articles of Confederation ? How are they now laid and 
collected ? 

What feature of State representation in Congress under 
the Articles of Confederation, is preserved by the present 
constitution ? What new feature of representation is added ? 

What was the so-called " right of secession ? " 

What is meant by the statement that the government of 
the United States is one of specifically granted powers? 
What are so-called concurrent powers ? 

Name a power, the exercise of which is prohibited, both 
to the government of the United States, and to the State of 
New York. 

State generally what powers may be exercised by the 
United States government, and what by the governments 
of the several States. 

Define reciprocity treaty, high seas, privateer, letters of 
marque and reprisal, bankruptcy, patent, copyright. 

What is a United States bond ? For what purposes 
are such bonds issued ? Give an account of the different 
kinds of money issued by the United States government. 
Describe the difference between a national bank and a 
State bank. 

Describe generally the power of Congress to regulate 
commerce. What is the interstate commerce commission? 
May a State tax imported goods ? If so, for what purposes? 
May the United States impose a tax on goods exported 
from the States ? 



2 6o GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

What is meant by United States territory ? State the 
difference between the government of an organized Territory 
and an unorganized Territory. Give in detail the steps nec- 
essary for admitting a Territory into the Federal Union. 

Define bill of attainder ; Ex post facto law. 

Name five specific prohibitions imposed by the constitu- 
tion upon the government of the United States, in favor of 
liberty of the individual citizen. Name five prohibitions 
imposed on the governments of the several States. 

Which amendment to the constitution prohibits slavery? 
Which guarantees civil and political rights to former slaves ? 
How is this guaranty enforced ? 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

Bryce's American Commonwealth, Part I., Chapter IV., " Nature 
of the Federal Government " ; Chapter XXVII., " The Federal Sys- 
tem " ; Chapter XXVIII., "Working of the Federal System." 
Schouler's Constitutional Studies, Part II., Chapter V., "The Fed- 
eral Constitution Analyzed; Structure and Distribution of Powers; 
Legislature"; Chapter VI., " Fundamental Powers of Congress"; 
Chapter VII., " Federal and State Prohibitions" ; Chapter X., "In- 
terstate and Territorial Relations." Burgess's Political Science and 
Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume I., Part II., Book I., Chap- 
ter II., "The Organization of the State in the Constitution of the 
United States" ; Book IT., Chapter II., "The System of Individual 
Liberty Provided in the Constitution of the United States." John- 
ston's History of American Politics, Chapter I., "Origin of Political 
Parties in the United States." Stevens, Sources of the Constitution, 
Chapter II. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Departments of United States Government. 

The government of the United States, like State and 
local governments, is carried on in three departments — leg- 
islative, executive and judicial. The work of each depart- 
ment is outlined in the constitution. The chief branch of 
the legislative department is Congress. The president of 
the United States stands at the head of the executive de- 
partment. The judicial department is composed of United 
States courts and judges. 

Congress. — The Congress of the United States, like the 
State legislature, is composed of two legislative branches or 
" houses." These are the Senate and the House of Repre- 
sentatives. The senate is the so-called " upper house " of 
Congress. It corresponds to the senate of the State legis- 
lature, and to the House of Lords of the English Parlia- 
ment. The house of representatives, or so-called " lower 
house " of Congress is a larger body than the senate, and its 
members are elected for a shorter term. It corresponds to 
the assembly in the legislature, and to the House of Com- 
mons in Parliament. Congress, thus composed, is the chief 
law-making power of the national government. It meets 
annually on the first Monday in December, 1 at the National 
Capitol in Washington, D. C. A new Congress meets every 
two years, and the life of a particular Congress ends at 
noon, March 4. in an odd-numbered year. 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 4. 

261 



262 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

The Senate. — The senate of the United States is com- 
posed of two members from each State in the Union. This 
makes a senate of ninety members. The senators from 
each State are chosen* by its State legislature, thus preserv- 
ing a feature of the original union under the Articles of 
Confederation. A further feature of that union is also pre- 
served in the equal representation of every State, large or 
small, in the Senate. Members of the senate are elected for 
terms of six years each, one third of the senators being elected 
every two years. This tends to keep a considerable portion 
of the senate at all times in comparatively close touch with 
the people. The vice president of the United States is the 
presiding officer of the senate. He does not vote in the 
senate except in case of a tie, when he may cast the decid- 
ing vote. 

Election of Senators. — The two houses of a State legis 
lature about to elect a United States senator, meet, each 
house in its own chamber, on the second Tuesday following 
the first regular meeting of the legislature, and the mem- 
bers proceed to cast their ballots for senator. At noon 
on the following day the two houses meet in joint session 
in a single chamber, and the votes of the previous day are 
read. If one person has received a majority of the votes of 
each house he is declared to be duly elected senator. But 
if no person has received such majorities, the two houses 
continue to meet in joint session at noon on each succeed- 
ing legislative day, and to take at least one vote a day, until 
one man receives a majority of all the votes of the joint as- 
sembly — a majority of all the members of the legislature 
being present and voting. When a vacancy occurs in the 
United States senate during a recess of the legislature en- 
titled to fill the vacant place, the governor of the State may 



appoint a man to act as senator till the office can be filled 
in the regular manner. A United States senator must be at 
least thirty years old, an inhabitant of the State from which 
he is elected, and must have been at least nine years a citizen 
of the United States. 

The House of Representatives. — Members of the house 
of representatives are elected by direct vote of the people 
in the several States. Each State elects representatives in 
proportion to its population, the more populous States send- 
ing the larger number ; but each State is entitled to at least 
one representative. The ratio of population to one repre- 
sentative, and the number of representatives to which each 
State is entitled are fixed by Congress, according to the re- 
sults of a United States census taken every ten years. 
The present ratio is one representative for every 173.901 
people. This gives us under the census of 1890 a house of 
representatives of 357 members. By act of Congress ap- 
proved January, 1901, the number of representatives is fixed 
at 386 to take effect March 4, 1903 ; and when new States 
are admitted their representatives are to be added to this 
number. The original ratio, fixed by the constitution, 1 was 
not more than one representative for every 30,000 people. 
Such a ratio would give us to-day a house of representa- 
tives of about 2,500 members, by far too large a body to 
transact business conveniently and speedily. The house 
of representatives elects one of its own members to preside 
over its deliberations. He is called the speaker, probably 
from an old English custom of having the presiding officer 
of the House of Commons act as the " spokesman " or 
speaker, for that body when it presented petitions to the 
king. The speaker is one of the most important and 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 2. 



264 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

powerful officers of the national government, as will be seen 
from a further description of his duties. 

Election of Representatives. — The legislature of each 
State usually divides the territory of the State into as many 
congressional districts, as it has representatives in Con- 
gress. 1 Each district contains a population approximating 
the number of inhabitants fixed by Congress for one repre- 
sentative. A representative is elected every two years by 
the voters of each district, any voter qualified to vote for a 
State assemblyman being qualified to vote for a representa- 
tive in Congress. 2 Representatives are elected at the 
general State election, which takes place on the Tuesday 
following the first Monday in November of an even-num- 
bered year. An entirely new house of representatives is 
thus chosen every two years. The new house meets in 
December of the year following its election, unless Con- 
gress is sooner called together by the president. A repre- 
sentative must be at least twenty-five years old, an inhabitant 
of the State from which he is elected, and he must have 
been seven years a citizen of the United States. New 
York is divided into thirty-seven congressional districts, and 
the voters of the State elect thirty -seven representatives — be- 
sides the two senators chosen by the legislature — to repre- 
sent the State in Congress. 

Meetings of Congress Each Congress has two regular 

meetings or sessions. These are known as the First or 
Long Session, and the Second or Short Session. The long 
session begins in December of the year following the elec- 
tion of representatives, and usually continues until the fol- 

1 vSome States elect one or more of their representatives on a general ticket 
voted for by all the voters of the State. 

2 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 2. 



266 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 

lowing summer. The short session begins the next Decem- 
ber, and lasts till the fourth day of the following March. 
Members of Congress — both senators and representatives — 
receive an annual salary of $5,000 each, paid out of the 
treasury of the United States. 

How United States Laws are Made. — United States 
laws are enacted by Congress in much the same way as 
laws are passed by our State legislature. As in the legisla- 
ture, so in Congress, a proposed law is called " a bill." Any 
United States senator may propose any law in the senate, 
and any representative may introduce any bill in the house 
of representatives, except that all bills for raising revenue 
must originate in the house of representatives. 1 This 
provision of the constitution is inherited from the English 
practice, of having all propositions for taxing the people 
come from the House of Commons, the legislative body in 
Parliament nearest to the people. A similar practice pre- 
vailed in the legislatures of the American colonies before the 
Revolutionary War, all bills imposing taxes being proposed 
in the assembly or lower house, composed of representatives 
chosen directly by the people. 

Committees of Congress. — At the beginning of each 
Congress the members of both senate and house of repre- 
sentatives are divided into standing committees, for the pur- 
pose of considering proposed laws. Each standing com- 
mittee of both house and senate, has its particular subject 
assigned to it. these subjects including the entire range of 
ordinary legislation. Special committees are appointed to 
consider questions not assigned to the regular standing com- 
mittees. Every Congress has in both houses standing com- 
mittees on such subjects as : elections, ways and means, ap- 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 7. 



DEPARTMENTS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 267 

propriations, commerce, rivers and harbors, foreign affairs, 
agriculture, territories, education, military affairs, naval af- 
fairs, etc. The senate elects by ballot the members and 
chairmen of its standing committees. In the house the 
selection of both members and chairmen is left to the 
speaker. 

The Work of Congressional Committees. — Each bill 
proposed in senate and house of representatives goes first 
to its appropriate standing committee. It is there ex- 
amined as to its merits and defects, and the arguments of 
its friends and opponents heard. The bill may then be re- 
ported by the committee, either " favorably " or " unfavor- 
ably," to the house in which it was proposed. A " favor- 
able" report naturally helps a bill in its progress towards 
becoming a law, while an " unfavorable " report on a bill 
tends to defeat it. Many bills referred to committee are 
never reported back to senate or house, though these bodies 
may by vote compel a committee to report on any bill. 
Through such failure to report upon bills, many proposed 
laws are said to be " killed in committee." 

Power of the Speaker. — The speaker of the house of 
representatives may organize its committees in a way to de- 
feat proposed laws, not favored by his friends or his party. 
In the same way, by appointing committeemen friendly to 
certain measures, the speaker may hasten their passage 
through Congress. A member of the house wishing to 
speak upon a measure before that body must first secure 
formal recognition from the speaker. 

Passing Bills in Congress. — A bill reported by a com- 
mittee to the house in which it was proposed, may be de- 
bated by the members of the house, amended if desired, 
passed by majority vote of the house, and sent to the other 



268 GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION. 

house ; or the bill may be voted down by the house in 
which it was first proposed. If passed, the bill goes to the 
other house, where it is referred to its appropriate com- 
mittee, to go through a process similar to the one in the 
house where it originated. 

Action by the President on Bills. — Bills passed by both 
senate and house of representatives, go to the president of 
the United States for his approval and signature. The 
president has ten days, Sundays excepted, after receiving a 
bill, in which to consider it. He may sign the bill and re- 
turn it, within the time prescribed, to the house where it 
originated, when the bill becomes a law ; or the president 
may veto the bill. A third course open to the president is 
neither to sign -nor veto the bill. In this case, if Congress 
be in session at the end of the ten days allowed the presi- 
dent in which to consider the bill, it becomes a law without 
his signature. But if Congress adjourn before the expira- 
tion of the ten days, and the bill still remain unsigned in the 
hands of the president, it fails to become a law. 1 Such 
nonaction on a bill by the president is called a " pocket 
veto. " 

Bills may be Passed over the President's Veto. — A 
bill vetoed by the president may be reconsidered by the 
house in which it originated, and passed again by a two- 
thirds affirmative vote of the members. It is then sent to 
the other house, and if approved by a two-thirds affirmative 
vote of its members, the bill becomes a law in spite of the 
veto. 

Powers of Congress. — The powers of Congress to legis- 
late for the United States are outlined in Article I., Section 
8, of the constitution. Many of the subjects of congres- 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 7. 



DEPARTMENTS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 269 

sional legislation are described in detail in the preceding 
chapter of this book. 

Privileges and Disabilities of Congressmen. — A senator 
or representative may not be arrested while attending, going 
to, or returning from Congress, except he be charged with 
felony, treason, or breach of the peace. And no Congress- 
man may be held legally accountable in any place for any 
speech or debate in either house. 1 These provisions, like 
the similar provisions in our State constitution, 2 protecting 
members of the legislature, come down to us from the time 
when English kings attempted to interfere with the free 
action of Parliament by arresting and detaining its members 
for pretended offenses. Finally, no person, while a member 
of Congress, may hold any other civil office under the 
authority of the United States. 3 

The Executive Department. — The executive department 
of the national government is the one through which are 
enforced and administered United States laws and treaties ; 
which preserves peace and order throughout the territory 
controlled by the United States ; which controls the rela- 
tions and conduct of United States citizens when on the 
high seas, and defends their rights when threatened by the 
subjects of foreign nations. At its head is the president of 
the United States, and the department includes the United 
States army and navy, and a vast number of officials in the 
civil service of the United States. 

The President of the United States, His Powers and 
Duties. — The president of the United States, as the execu- 
tive head of the nation, is the commander in chief of the 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 6. 

'See Chapter XIV., " The Legislature." 

3 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 6. 



270 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

United States army and navy, and of the militia of the sev- 
eral States when engaged in the service of the United States. 
It is his duty faithfully to enforce the constitution, laws and 
treaties of the United States, and to protect our citizens, 
when within the territory controlled by the United States, 1 
when on the high seas, or when within the territory of a 
foreign nation. The president, through his subordinates, 
conducts all official intercourse of the United States with 
foreign governments. He appoints, by and with the ad- 
vice and consent of the senate, the judges of the supreme 
court of the United States, and other important executive 
and judicial officers ; while many subordinate officers are 
appointed by him alone. The president has power gener- 
ally to remove officers appointed by him, whether ap- 
pointed with or without the advice and consent of the senate. 
He may pardon or reprieve persons convicted of offenses 
against the United States, except in case of impeachment 
of public officers. He is elected by the voters of the several 
States for a term of four years, which begins on March fourth 
of an odd-numbered year. He must be a natural-born citi- 
zen of the United States, at least thirty-five years of age, 
and he must have been for fourteen years a resident of the 
United States. He receives an annual salary of $50,000, 
paid out of the treasury of the United States. 

The President's War Powers. — While the president is 
commander in chief of the army and navy, and may direct 
their action in such a way as to provoke actual war, Con- 
gress alone has power formally to declare war against an 
enemy of the United States. Congress also controls our 
military and naval operations, by its power to grant and re- 
fuse supplies of money and men necessary to carry on war. 

1 A State protects its own citizens when within the territory of the State. 



DEPARTMEXTS OF'UXITED STATES GO VERA ME XT. 271 

The president's power is further limited by the clause of the 
constitution, which forbids Congress to grant money for 
military operations for a longer term than two years. 1 

The President and Our Foreign Relations. — Our inter- 
course with the governments of foreign nations is carried 
on by the president, acting through his subordinates. The 
president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, 
appoints ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, to represent 
the government of the United States before foreign. govern- 
ments, and he receives similar officials sent to the United 
States. The president through his subordinates, makes all 
treaties of the United States with foreign governments, but 
a treat)' must be agreed to by two thirds of a quorum of the 
senate. Treaties that require money to carry them into effect, 
depend upon Congress for the necessary appropriations. 

The President's Legislative Powers. — We have seen 
that the president may veto bills passed by Congress, thus 
compelling that body to reconsider any hasty or injudicious 
action. The president is also required to give Congress in- 
formation from time to time on the state of the Union, rec- 
ommending the passing of any laws he may think necessary 
or wise. 2 Information is thus given, and recommendations 
made, by the president, in " messages " sent to Congress, 
usually at the beginning of each session. The president 
also has power to call the senate or both houses of Congress 
together in a so-called "extra session," when public busi- 
ness demands it. When the two houses disagree as to the 
time of adjourning Congress, the president may adjourn it 
to such time as he thinks proper. 3 

1 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 8. 

2 United States Constitution, Article II., Section 3. 

3 United States Constitution, Article II., Section 3. 



272 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

The President and the Civil Service. — The president's 
power to appoint and remove officers in the civil service of 
the United States, is limited by civil service rules, which he 
sanctions and enforces. Under these rules about one half 
of the nearly 200,000 Federal officeholders have been placed 
in the so-called " classified service " ; and appointments in 
this service are made as the result of competitive examina- 
tions. The % more important offices, such as heads of de- 
partment in the cabinet, collectors of customs, collectors of 
internal revenue, postmasters in large cities, etc., are in the 
so-called " unclassified service." These offices are often 
filled, and their former occupants removed, by each suc- 
ceeding president for purely political reasons. 

The President's Cabinet. — The work of the executive 
department is largely carried on through eight subordinate 
departments. The heads of these departments are ap- 
pointed by the president, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the senate, and they are known as the president's 
cabinet. The members of the cabinet are as follows : Sec- 
retary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, 
Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior, Postmaster- 
General, Attorney- General, Secretary of Agriculture. The 
cabinet holds regular meetings, attended by the president, 
at which affairs of government are discussed and lines 
of action decided upon. Each cabinet officer has from one 
to four assistants or assistant secretaries, and each cabinet 
department is divided into bureaus, at the head of each of 
which is a commissioner. 

The Department of State. — The department of state, 
headed by the secretary of state, conducts all official nego- 
tiations and correspondence of the United States with 
foreign governments. The secretary of state is also the 



medium of communication between the president of the 
United States and the governors of the several States. He 
has the custody of the great seal of the United States, of 
treaties made with foreign governments, and of the laws of 
the United States as passed by Congress. 

The Treasury Department. — The treasury department, 
under control of the secretary of the treasury, has the man- 
agement of the national finances, and includes a number of 
important officers, among whom are comptrollers, auditors,, 
treasurer of the United States, register of the treasury, com- 
missioner of internal revenue, director of the mint, etc. The 
secretary of the treasury estimates the revenues and ex- 
penses of the national government and superintends the col- 
lection of the revenues. The treasurer receives and keeps 
the moneys of the government, and pays out money on the 
orders of the secretary of the treasury. 

The War Department. — The war department, headed by 
the secretary of war, has charge of the equipment and 
supply of the United States army. Public improvements, 
like the construction of United States docks and bridges, are 
conducted by this department.' So are explorations under- 
taken by the United States. The department has charge of 
the United States signal service along our coasts, of the 
United States Military Academy at West Point, and of sev- 
eral national parks and soldiers' " homes." 

The Navy Department. — The navy department is headed 
by the secretary of the navy. It has charge of the navy of 
the United States and its equipment and supply ; also of the 
United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. 

The Interior Department. — The interior department, in 
charge of the secretary of the interior, performs a variety of 
work, as indicated by the titles of the commissioners head- 



274 GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION 

ing its various bureaus. In this department, the commis- 
sioner of the general land office has charge of the public 
lands belonging to the United States, and the commissioner 
of pensions of the granting of pensions to soldiers and 
sailors disabled in the service of the United States. The de- 
partment grants patents and copyrights, looks after Indians 
living on the so-called " reservations " ; conducts Indian 
schools ; takes the United States census ; includes a bureau 
.of education in charge of a commissioner of education, who 
collects statistics relating to education in this and other 
countries; and a department of labor, which collects statis- 
tics relating to conditions of trades and laborers. 

The Post Office Department. — The post office depart- 
ment has charge of the transportation of the mails, and of all 
United States post offices. The postmaster-general is at its 
head. He establishes post offices, and appoints all post- 
masters not appointed by the president. 

The Department of Justice. — The department of justice 
is headed by the attorney-general, with duties somewhat 
similar to the duties of our State officer of that name. The 
attorney-general gives legal advice, when so requested, to 
the president and the heads of the subordinate executive de- 
partments ; conducts cases before the United States courts 
in which the national government is interested ; and has gen- 
eral supervision of the prosecuting officers known as United 
States district attorneys, and of the executive officers known 
as United States marshals. 

The Department of Agriculture. — This department, 
headed by the secretary of agriculture, is divided into a 
number of bureaus which have for their object the better- 
ment of agriculture. Various reports are published and dis- 
tributed by the department. 



DEPARTMENTS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 275 

Other features of the executive department include the in- 
terstate commerce commission, already referred to, the 
United States fish commission, the civil service commission, 
the government printing office, the national museum, 
bureau of ethnology, and the library of Congress. 

The Vice President. — The vice president of the United 
States takes the place of the president, in case of his death, 
resignation, removal from office, or inability to perform the 
duties of his office. The vice president is elected at the 
same time and in the same manner as the president, and for 
the same term of office. His chief duty is to preside over 
the deliberations of the United States senate. He must pos- 
sess the same qualifications as the president, as to age, 
citizenship, and residence. He receives an annual salary of 
SS.ooo. 

Election of President and Vice President. — The presi- 
dent and vice president are elected by the people of the 
several States, voting for officers called Presidential Electors. 
Each State chooses as many presidential electors as it has 
senators and representatives in Congress. The presidential 
electors are nominated by the different political parties, 
usually one elector from each congressional district in a 
State, and two for the State at large. The names are 
printed, each party's list, at the head of the party ticket on 
the official ballot, the different lists being voted for by the 
voters of the entire State. The presidential electors, when 
chosen, meet on the second Monday in January following 
their election, usually at their respective State capitals. 
They then cast their ballots for a president and vice presi- 
dent of the United States. The candidates for president 
and vice president who receive a majority of the votes of all 
the electors are elected. If no candidate receives a majority, 



276 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

the president is chosen by the house of representatives, and 
the vice president by the senate, as described in the 
twelfth amendment to the constitution of the United States. 

The Presidential Succession. — If both president and 
vice president die, or become unable to perform the duties 
of president, Congress is given power by the constitution, 1 to 
designate what officer shall act as president, till a new presi- 
dent is elected at a regular presidential election. By statute, 
passed in 1887, Congress provided that the following offi- 
cers, if qualified, should succeed to the presidency in this 
order : I, secretary of state ; 2, secretary of the treasury ; 3, 
secretary of war ; 4, attorney-general ; 5, postmaster-general ; 
6, secretary of the navy ; 7, secretary of the interior. 

Impeachment. — Any civil officer of the United States, 
including the president and vice president, may be im- 
peached for treason, bribery, or " other high crimes and 
misdemeanors," and if convicted, must be removed from 
office. 2 In impeachment cases the house of representatives 
presents the charges, and the United States senate sits as a 
court to try the accused. A two-thirds vote of the senators 
present is necessary to convict an impeached officer. The 
judgment of the court of impeachment cannot extend further 
than to remove the convicted officer from his office, and dis- 
qualify him from holding any office of honor, trust or profit 
under the United States. But an officer so convicted may 
also be indicted, tried, and punished, by the criminal courts, 
like any ordinary offender. When the president of the 
United States is impeached, the chief justice of the United 
States presides over the court of impeachment. 3 

1 United States Constitution, Article IT, Section I. 

2 United States Constitution, Article II., Section 4. 

3 United States Constitution, Article I., Section 3. 



DEPARTMENTS OE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 277 

The Judiciary Department. — As the government of the 
United States has its own law-making and law-enforcing 
powers, superior to and independent of the governments of 
the several States, so it has its own independent judiciary de- 
partment to interpret and apply the United States Constitu- 
tion, laws and treaties. The judiciary department includes 
the Supreme Court of the United States, provided for by the 
constitution, 1 and the inferior courts established by Con- 
gress. 

Jurisdiction of United States Courts. — Suits arising un- 
der the constitution, laws and treaties of the United States 
are tried in the United States courts. A man charged with 
ordinary theft is tried in a State court, for theft is a crime 
against State law ; but a man charged with stealing and 
making use of an idea protected by a patent, is tried in a 
United States court, because patents are given under United 
States law. So are cases affecting ambassadors, ministers 
and consuls, and the rights of United States citizens when 
on the high seas. 2 Controversies, in which the United States 
is a party, controversies between two or more States, be- 
tween a State and the citizens of another State, between the 
citizens of different States, or between a State or its citizens 
and the citizens of a foreign nation, are tried in United 
States courts ; but no State may be sued by the citizens of 
another State or by the subjects of a foreign nation. 

United States Courts Enumerated. — The courts of the 
United States are the supreme court, already referred to, the 
circuit courts, the circuit court of appeals, and the district 
courts. The judges of these courts are appointed by the 

1 United States Constitution, Article III., Section 1. 

2 Courts applying the rules of law governing personal and property rights 
on the high seas are called Admiralty courts. 



278 GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION. 

president of the United States, by and with the advice and 
consent of the senate. They hold office during good be- 
havior, and receive salaries fixed by Congress. 

The District Courts. — The district courts are the lowest 
United States courts. Every State has at least one district 
court, and the larger States two or three, 1 each presided over 
by a United States district judge. All crimes committed 
against the United States, except crimes punishable by 
death, are triable in district court. So are civil cases arising 
under the laws of the United States. An appeal may be 
taken from the decision of a district court to the circuit 
court of appeals, or to the supreme court. Appeals to the 
supreme court are taken when the question appealed in- 
volves : I, a construction of the constitution; 2, the con- 
stitutionality of a law, State or national ; 3, the construction 
of a treaty ; 4, a punishment for a great crime. 

The Circuit Courts. — Next above the United States dis- 
trict courts are the circuit courts. There are nine circuit 
courts in the United States, each circuit including several 
States. There is a United States circuit judge for each of 
the nine circuit courts. Circuit courts are presided over by 
a circuit judge, and there may be associated with him a judge 
of the supreme court, or a district judge in the circuit. 

1 New York State has four: The Western District, including Alleghany, 
Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ni- 
agara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and 
Yates counties; the Northern District, including Albany, Broome, Cayuga, 
Chenango, Clinton, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, 
Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondago, Os- 
wego, Otsego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, 
Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, and Washington counties ; the Eastern District, 
including Richmond, Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties ; and the 
Southern District, including the residue of the State. 



DEPARTMENTS OF CXI TED STATES GOVERNMENT. 279 

Criminal suits and civil suits, involving not less than $500, 
and suits that arise under the patent and copyright laws are 
tried in circuit courts. Appeals from circuit courts are taken 
to the circuit court of appeals, or to the supreme court. 

The Circuit Court of Appeals. — In each circuit there is a 
circuit court of appeals consisting of three judges — one 
specially appointed to the circuit court of appeals, one a 
supreme court judge, and one a district court judge of the 
circuit. The circuit court of appeals 'hears cases brought 
up to it on appeal from district courts and from circuit courts 
within the circuit. 

The United States Supreme Court. — Above the district 
and circuit courts, and above the circuit court of appeals, 
stands the supreme court of the United States. This is the 
highest judicial tribunal in the land, and the final authority 
in all questions arising under the constitution, laws and 
treaties of the United States. The supreme court sits in the 
National Capitol at Washington. It is composed of a chief 
justice and eight associate justices, and the presence of six 
is necessary to render a decision. This court has the power 
to bring before it sovereign States of the Union, as well as 
their citizens. Its chief business is the hearing of appeals 
brought up to it from the inferior United States courts, and 
from the highest courts of the several States, where ques- 
tions arise involving rights under the constitution and laws 
of the United States. 1 The supreme court has original juris- 
diction, in cases wherein a State is a party in the contro- 
versy, or where the rights of ambassadors, ministers, and 
consuls are affected. One of its most important duties is to 

'Appeals from decisions of the courts of the District of Columbia are 
made to the supreme court. Appeals are made from the courts of the Terri- 
tories to the United States circuit courts of appeals and to the supreme court. 



2 8o GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION. 

decide whether laws framed by the State legislatures or by 
Congress, are in accord with the constitution of the United 
States, such decisions being made in proceedings similar to 
those brought before our State court of appeals to test the 
constitutionality of a State law. 

Cases Removed from a State Court to the United States 
Supreme Court. — Suits begun in State courts may be re- 
moved to the supreme court of the United States, when the 
highest court of the State decides against the validity of a 
statute or treaty of the United States, or when the claim is 
made that a State law or a provision of the State constitu- 
tion, is not in harmony with the constitution, laws, or treaties 
of the United States. 

United States Marshals. — Attached to every United 
States court is an officer known as a United States marshal. 
It is his duty to carry out the writs, judgments, and orders 
of his court, much as a New York sheriff carries out the 
orders of the State courts. A United States marshal, if re- 
sisted in the execution of the law, may like a constable or 
sheriff, call any citizen to his aid ; and he may, if necessary, 
apply to the president for the aid of troops from the United 
States army. 

United States District Attorneys' — Every judiciary dis- 
trict of the United States has a prosecuting officer known 
as a United States district attorney, whose duty it is to prose- 
cute offenders against United States laws in his district, in 
much the same way as the district attorney of a New York 
county prosecutes offenders against the State law. 

The Jury in United States Courts. — The constitution re- 
quires that the trial of all crimes against the United States, 
except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and that 
the trial must be in the State where the alleged crime was 



DEPARTMENTS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 281 

committed. If not committed in a State, the trial must be 
in a place designated by Congress. 1 

The Court of Claims. — As the United States may not be 
sued by one of its citizens, Congress has established a court 
of claims, which sits at Washington, to hear and investigate 
the claims of private parties against the national government. 
Appeals from its decisions are to the supreme court ; but in 
some cases its " findings " are sent to Congress, which takes 
such action in the matter as seems just. 

SUMMARY. 

United States government, like State and local govern- 
ments, is carried on in three departments — legislative, exec- 
utive and judicial. Congress is the chief branch of the legis- 
lative department. The president is at the head of the ex- 
ecutive department. The judiciary department is composed 
of United States courts and judges. 

Congress is composed of a senate of two members elected 
from each State by its legislature ; and of a house of repre- 
sentatives, with members from each State in proportion to 
its population, elected by direct vote of the people. 

The life of a particular Congress is two years; and each 
Congress has two regular sessions — a long and a short ses- 
sion. The long session begins in December of the year fol- 
lowing the election of members of the house of representa- 
tives. The short session begins in the following December 
and ends at noon on the fourth day of the following March. 

United States laws are passed by Congress in much the 
same way as laws are passed by the State legislature. The 
president has a veto over bills passed by Congress, quite 

1 United States Constitution, Article III., Section 2. 
Hoxie's N. V.— 18 



282 GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION. 

similar to the governor's veto over bills passed by the legis- 
lature. 

^The president, by and with the advice and consent of the 
senate, appoints -ambassadors, ministers and consuls to rep- 
resent the United States in foreign nations, negotiates trea- 
ties between the United States and such nations; and ap- 
points the following heads of departments known as the 
" president's cabinet " : secretary of state, secretary of war, 
secretary of the treasury, secretary of the navy, secretary 
of the interior, postmaster-general, attorney-general, secre- 
tary of agriculture. The president is commander in chief 
of the United States army and navy, and of the State mili- 
tia when in the service of the United States. 

The judiciary department is composed of the United 
States supreme court, the United States circuit and district 
courts, and the circuit court of appeals. These courts have 
jurisdiction generally of questions involving the constitution, 
laws, and treaties of the United States, and the conduct of 
United States citizens on the high seas. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Describe the method of electing United States senators, 
and state the requirements for senators, as to age, residence, 
and citizenship. What constitutional provision keeps a large 
portion of the senate in comparatively close touch with the 
people ? 

How is the number of representatives to which a State 
is entitled in the house of representatives determined ? Who 
may vote for representatives ? 

How is the speaker chosen? Describe generally, his 
power to influence legislation. 



DEPARTMENTS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 283 

What legislative work is performed by committees of the 
senate and house of representatives ? 

Give in detail the steps necessary to pass a bill over the 
president's veto. What kind of bills must originate in the 
house of representatives ? Why ? 

What provision of the constitution protects freedom of 
debate in Congress ? 

Name three powers of the president in connection with 
the work of the executive department. 

What is the difference between an ambassador or minis- 
ter, and a consul ? What important difference between their 
legal rights while residing in a foreign country ? How 
are treaties between the United States and foreign govern- 
ments made ? 

May the president of the United States declare war against 
a foreign nation ? 

What constitutional prohibition controls the president's 
power to prosecute war ? 

What is a president's " message " ? How is the presi- 
dent's power of appointment limited by the civil service 
laws ? 

Name the members of the cabinet, and describe the duties 
of each. What department controls United States pensions ? 
Indian affairs ? Which conducts explorations ? Which 
grants patents and copyrights ? Which has charge of mat- 
ters relating to education ? Describe the work of United 
States marshals ; of United States district attorneys. 

Name in their order the officers entitled to succeed the 
president on his death or inability to perform the duties of 
his office. 

Describe in detail the manner of electing the president and 
vice president. Who and what are presidential electors ? 



284 GOVERNMENT OE THE NATION. 

Describe the proceedings in an attempt to impeach the 
president of the United States. 

What good reason for the establishment of United States 
courts, independent of State judicial tribunals ? Name the 
courts of the United States in their order, and describe gen- 
erally the jurisdiction of each. How are the judges of 
these courts chosen ? For what term of office ? When 
may a case begun in a State court be removed to the United 
States supreme court ? Describe the constitutional provi- 
sion providing for jury trials in United States courts. 

What work is done by the United States court of 
claims ? 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

Bryce's American Commonwealth, Volume I., Part I., Chapter 
XII., "The Senate; Its Working and Influence" ; Chapter XIII., 
"The House of Representatives " ; Chapter XIV., " The House at 
Work" ; Chapter XV., "The Committees of Congress" ; Chapter 
XVIII., "Relations of the Two Houses" ; Chapter VI., " Presiden- 
tial Powers and Duties" ; Chapter IX., " The Cabinet" ; Chapter 
XX., "Relations of Congress to the President" ; Chapter XXII., 
"The Federal Courts" ; Chapter XXXIII., " Interpretation of the 
Constitution." 

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. 

For a manual of constitutional law, see Cooley's General Principles 
of Constitutional Law in the United States of America. For the sources 
and general principles underlying constitutional government in 
America, see Hannis Taylor's The Origin and Growth of the English 
Cojistitution, Part I., introductory chapter ; Stubbs's Constitutional 
History of England ; Freeman's Growth of the English Constitution 
from the Earliest Times; Fiske's A?Jierican Political Ideas Viewed 
from the Standpoint of Universal History ; Green's Short History of the 
English People; Howard's Introduction to the Local Constitutional 
History of the United States in the Johns Hopkins University Series of 



DEPARTMENTS OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 285 

Histoiical and Political Studies; Hildreth's History of the United 
Stales, Volumes I., II. and III ; Bancroft's Formation of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States ; Schouler's Constitutional Studies. Douglas 
Campbell in The Puritan in England, Holland and America at- 
tempts to trace the origin of many of our political institutions to the 
Dutch. C. E. Stevens in Sources of the Constitution of the United 
States combats Campbell, taking the view that most American polit- 
ical institutions come from the English. 

For the growth and development of constitutional government in 
New York, see Broadhead's History of New York ; Documents Relating 
to the Colonial History of the State of New York, especially " Holland 
Documents," Volumes I. and II. ; the Historical Note in Volume I. 
of the Colonial Laws of New York, compiled by the Statutory Revi- 
sion Committee ; Lamb's History of the City of New York; Hill's 
De7>elopment of Constitutional Law in New York State ; Elting's Dutch 
Village Communities on the Hudson ; Thwaites's Colonies, Chapters IX. 
and X. ; Fiske's Dutch and Quaker Colonies. The Rise of the Dutch 
Republic by John Lothrop Motley, condensed and continued by Wil- 
liam Eliot Griffis, contains many references to Dutch institutions and 
influences that have contributed to the formation of American polit- 
ical institutions. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The United States and Other Nations. 

An account of the governments affecting the people of 
New York does not end with a description of the govern- 
ment of the United States. As New York is a member of 
the United States, bound by all the common laws of the 
Union, so the United States is a member of the great family 
of civilized nations, bound by all the common customs and 
rules regulating the intercourse of such nations. The cus- 
toms, rules and agreements, regulating the intercourse 
of civilized nations with one another are known as inter- 
national law. 

International Law Differs From State and National 
Law. — International law differs from the laws of the State 
and of the United States in this important particular, that 
while the latter are mainly positive written enactments, that 
may be enforced by State and national executive officers, in- 
ternational law, on the contrary, is made up chiefly of cus- 
toms that have been gradually adopted, the enforcement of 
which depends largely upon the honor of the nations recog- 
nizing the obligation of such law. 1 There is no power out- 
side of a nation to force it to observe the rules of interna- 

1 International law is a system of rules adopted by the free choice of cer- 
tain nations, for the purpose of governing their intercourse with each other, 
and not inconsistent with the principles of natural justice. It has grown up 
by degrees, and has been submitted during its progress to sundry modifica- 
tions. It is the most voluntary of all codes. — Woolsey, Introduction to the 
Study of International Law. 
286 



THE UXITED STATES AXD OTHER NATIONS. 287 

tional law, unless it be the power of some other nation or 
nations making war upon it. 

Official Intercourse between Nations Conducted by 
Ambassadors, Ministers and Consuls. — Intercourse be- 
tween the governments of civilized nations, as we have 
already seen, is officially carried on by officers known as 
ambassadors, ministers and consuls. The two former are 
known as diplomatic officers. They aid in the negotiations 
of treaties and represent generally their governments before 
the governments to which they are sent. A consul, on the 
other hand, is usually only a business agent who looks after 
the commercial interests of his government, and after the 
interests of any of its citizens, who may be in the country 
to which he is sent. All these officers when performing 
their official duties, usually reside in the territory of the 
nation to which they are accredited. 

Ambassadors and Ministers. — Ambassadors and minis- 
ters represent different ranks of diplomatic officers, the 
former being the highest of such officials, and sent only to 
and from the great powers. Thus the United States sends 
to and receives from such nations as France, Germany and 
Great Britain, officials known as ambassadors extraordinary 
and plenipotentiary ; while it sends to and receives from 
such powers as Belgium, Bolivia and Chili, officers known 
as ministers extraordinary and plenipotentiary. Ambassa- 
dors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States 
have the full power of the highest diplomatic officers, and 
receive annual salaries of $17,500 each. Ministers plenipo- 
tentiary have full powers of diplomatic officers, but receive 
salaries ranging from $5,000 to $12,000. A still lower grade 
of minister is the minister resident, sent to such powers as 
Corea and Liberia. 



288 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

Rights and Privileges of Ambassadors and Ministers. — 

An ambassador or minister, though residing at the capital 
of the foreign nation to which he is sent, is subject in no 
way to the laws of the foreign government. His person, 
his official residence, and family, are considered as being 
within the territory and under the laws of the government 
that sends him. If a diplomatic official commit a crime 
against the laws of the country to which he is sent, he may 
be returned to his own country as a persona non grata — a 
person not satisfactory as a diplomatic representative. 

Consuls, Their Rights and Duties. — A consul, unless 
there be special agreement to the contrary, has no such ex- 
traordinary rights and privileges as an ambassador or minis- 
ter. Consuls are sent by the different civilized governments 
to the chief ports of all foreign nations, and while there are 
subject to the ordinary laws, civil and criminal, of the nation 
to which they are sent. A consul's duties are determined 
by the laws of the country sending him, and by treaty. 
Some of the duties of the United States consuls in foreign 
countries, are to look after the interests of American ships 
and seamen, and other citizens of the United States while 
abroad, to give certificates for various purposes, and to make 
reports to our government on conditions of industry and 
trade. 

Treaties. — The details of the intercourse between differ- 
ent civilized nations, are now usually very largely regulated 
by formal agreements known as treaties. Any two nations 
may unite in making any treaty, that does not violate the 
accepted principles of international law. Each government 
enforces the provisions of its treaties upon its own citizens. 
Should a treaty be violated by one of the governments en- 
tering into it, the other may regard it as broken, and de- 



THE i'XITED STATES AND OTHER NATIONS. 289 

mand redress; or, it may still require the observance of the 
treaty. But such a demand or requirement could be en- 
forced only by act of war. 

Rights of Travelers in Foreign Countries. — Travelers in 
foreign countries are subject to the laws, civil and criminal, 
of the countries through which they pass, and they may, as 
a rule, be tried and punished . by the local authorities for 
violating such laws. The same is true of citizens of one 
country residing temporarily in another. But every govern- 
ment is bound to protect its own citizens in person and 
property, against arbitrary and unjust acts committed in an- 
other country. 

Foreign Governments May Return Escaped Criminals. 
— By treaties made between two governments, a person 
who commits a crime in one country and escapes to an- 
other, may, on demand of the officers of the former country, 
be given up to them to be tried in the place where the 
crime was committed. This formal surrender of an escaped 
criminal is known as extradition, and treaties providing for 
such surrender of criminals are extradition treaties. Polit- 
ical offenders are not usually included among the persons to 
be returned under extradition treaties. 

Tariffs and Embargoes. — The free commercial inter- 
course between nations is, as we have seen, frequently re- 
stricted by tariff laws, imposing taxes on imported goods. 
Such a law may be simply a means of raising revenue for 
the government making the law ; or it may be enacted to 
protect domestic manufacturers against the free competition 
of foreign manufacturers ; or it may be a retaliatory measure 
against a government that refuses to admit the products of 
another nation. On the other hand, as we have also seen, 
two governments may enter into a reciprocity treaty, whereby 



290 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

each country agrees to admit freely the products of the other. 
By an act of embargo, all the vessels, domestic and foreign, 
in the ports of a country, may be prohibited from leaving 
these ports during a certain specified time. Tariffs and 
embargoes are enforced by the government enacting them. 

When Nations go to War. — Nations at war with each 
other are known as belligerents, and all other nations as 
neutrals. Combatants are members of the military and 
naval forces, actually engaged in war. Noncombatants 
are citizens of the belligerent nations not directly engaged in 
prosecuting the war. Combatants may be legally killed or 
taken prisoners of war by the forces of the belligerent nations. 
Noncombatants may neither be killed nor captured. The 
citizen noncombatants of one nation may be allowed to re- 
main within the territory of another nation at war with it, 
or they may be ordered to leave the territory with their 
goods and property. While they remain legally and peace- 
ably within the territory of their enemy, noncombatants 
are entitled to the protection of his laws. 

The Declaration of War. — War usually begins by a 
formal public declaration of war by the governments con- 
cerned, though actual fighting may precede such a declara- 
tion. The declaration of war is a notice to the citizens of 
belligerents and neutrals, that a state of war exists, and that 
they must regulate their actions accordingly. After a formal 
declaration of war, all intercourse and trade between the 
belligerent nations is supposed to cease, and contracts made 
between the subjects of one belligerent and those of another 
are void. War is ended by a formal treaty of peace between 
the belligerent governments. Property captured after the 
adoption of a treaty of peace, must be restored to the orig- 
inal owners. 



THE UNITED STATES AXD OTHER NATIONS. 291 

Property Rights During War. — Only public property 
used for the purpose of prosecuting the war, may be de- 
stroyed or captured by a belligerent under the rules of in- 
ternational law. Thus forts, guns, ammunition, ships, mili- 
tary and naval stores of all kinds, railroads engaged in trans- 
porting troops and supplies, are subject to capture and con- 
fiscation by an enemy. Private property belonging to an 
enemy's subjects, and not used for prosecuting the war, may 
not be destroyed or captured. An exception to this rule is 
made in the case of the private property of an enemy's sub- 
jects when on ships at sea. All the merchant vessels of an 
enemy, with their crews and cargoes, are subject to capture. 
Such captures are called prizes of war, and belong to the 
government making the capture. Another exception is 
where an invading army finds it necessary to subsist wholly 
or partly upon the country invaded. In such cases the 
property of noncombatants may be taken for use of the 
invading army. The rule is to pay for such property, but 
it is not always observed. 

Rights and Duties of Neutrals. — It is the duty of the 
governments of neutral nations to in no way aid either of 
the belligerents during the prosecution of a war; but neutral 
governments are not always responsible for the acts of their 
subjects. A neutral nation has the right to forbid the trans- 
portation of the troops or supplies of a belligerent across its 
territory ; and no fighting may be done or captures made 
within the jurisdiction of a neutral, either on land or water. 
The subjects of a neutral nation may as a rule, freely con- 
tinue their trade with the subjects of the belligerent nations ; 
and a belligerent may not disturb goods belonging to the 
subject of a neutral nation, even though these goods be 
captured upon a merchant vessel belonging to the subjects 



292 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

of a belligerent enemy. The war ships of belligerents may 
freely visit neutral ports, in the same manner as the mer- 
chant vessels of belligerent nations ; but war vessels may 
not take on military stores at neutral ports, neither may 
privateers be fitted out in such ports. 

Contraband of War. — An exception to the rule that the 
goods of neutral subjects may not be captured by belliger- 
ents, is in the case of property known as contraband of war. 
This is property, such as arms, ammunition, horses, military 
and naval stores, that may be used in directly prosecuting 
the war. Such contraband of war, the subjects of a neutral 
nation have no right to supply to either belligerent ; and 
contraband of war destined for a belligerent, may be cap- 
tured and confiscated by the other belligerent, even upon 
the vessels of neutrals. But no such captures may be made 
within the territory of a neutral nation. The belligerent 
governments have a so-called right of search, which they 
may exercise upon any neutral private merchant vessel 
when on the high seas, in order to ascertain if contraband 
of war be on board. Such a vessel refusing to be searched, 
may be captured by the belligerent as a prize of war. 1 

1 Each belligerent government usually decides for itself what particular 
article will be considered and captured as contraband of war, when about to 
be supplied to the opposing belligerent. The government of the United 
States during our late war with Spain issued the following order to our navy 
relative to contraband of Avar : 

" The term contraband of war comprehends only articles having a belliger- 
ent destination, as to an enemy's port or fleet. With this explanation the 
following articles are, for the present to be treated as contraband : Absolute con- 
traband — ordnance ; machine guns and their appliances, and the parts thereof; 
armor plate, and whatever pertains to the offensive and defensive armament 
of naval vessels ; arms and instruments of iron, steel, brass, or copper, or of 
any other material, such arms and instruments being specially adapted for 
use in war by land or sea ; torpedoes and their appurtenances ; cases for 



THE UXITED STATES AXD OTHER NATIONS. 293 

Blockades. — During the progress of a war one belligerent 
often blockades the ports or coasts of the other belligerent. 
Under the rules of a blockade, no vessel may leave or enter 
a blockaded port, without permission of the party blockad- 
ing it. The same is true as to communicating by land with 
a city that is blockaded on the land side. Neutral vessels 
attempting to enter or leave a blockaded port, may be cap- 
tured and confiscated as prizes of war. But a blockade, to 
be effective under the rules of international law, must be 
actually maintained by the armed forces of the belligerent. 
Formal notice of the existence of a blockade must be given 
by the belligerent enforcing it, in order to make lawful the 
confiscating of property belonging to citizens of neutral 
nations attempting to pass the blockade. 

Privateers and Privateering. — Private war vessels, as we 
have seen, may be fitted out to prey upon an enemy's com- 
merce during the existence of war. Such vessels are called 
privateers, and they are given authority to make captures, 
by a belligerent government issuing to the owner of a 
privateer, so-called letters of marque and reprisal. 1 By a 
treaty concluded at Paris in 1856, the principal European 
powers agreed to license no privateers in future wars among 
themselves. The United States has refused to unite in such 

mines, of whatever material ; engineering and transport materials, such as 
gun carriages, caissons, cartridge boxes, campaigning forges, canteens, pon- 
toons; ordnance stores ; portable range finders; signal flags destined for naval 
use ; ammunition and explosives of all kinds ; machinery for the manufacture 
of arms and munitions of war; saltpeter ; military accoutrements and equip- 
ments of all sorts; horses. Conditionally contraband — coal, when destined 
for a naval station, a port of call or a ship or ships of the enemy; materials 
for the construction of railways or telegraphs, and money, when such mate- 
rials or money are destined for the enemy's forces ; provisions when destined 
for an enemy's ship or ships or for a place besieged." 
' See " War Powers," Chapter XXII. 



294 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

an agreement, but the president, during our late war with 
Spain, announced the determination of our government to 
adhere during the war to the anti-privateering clause of the 
Paris treaty. 

Arbitration. — Arbitration, instead of war, is coming more 
and more to be a method of settling disputes between na- 
tions. It is the custom of each government in dispute, to 
choose some one or more impartial officials of a government 
not interested in the dispute, to be known as arbiters to 
whom the disputing governments agree to leave the ques- 
tion at issue. There is no actual force, however, to compel 
a nation to submit to the decision of such a court of arbitra- 
tion, although it is morally bound to submit. 

The Hague Conference and Treaty. — At the call of the 
Czar of Russia, accredited representatives of twenty-six of 
the leading powers of the world met in 1899, at The Hague, 
in what is known as The International Peace Conference, 1 
and agreed upon a treaty, which has since been ratified by 
the governments represented. This treaty provides: 

First, In case of serious disagreement between any two 
of the powers ratifying the treaty, before there is a resort 
to actual war, that one more of the other powers may offer 
their services as mediators between them ; further, that each 
of the powers at variance " may choose respectively a 
power to whom they may intrust the mission of entering 
into direct communication with the power chosen on the 

1 Representatives of the following-named powers attended The Hague 
Conference, and agreed to the treaty for arbitration : Austria, Belgium, 
Bulgaria, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, 
Greece, Holland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Montenegro, Persia, 
Portugal, Roumania, Russia," Servia, Siam, Spain, Sweden and Norway, 
Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States of America. The governments 
of all these powers have formally ratified the work of the conference. 



THE UNITED STATES AXD OTHER XATIOXS. 295 

other side,'' with the object of preventing, if possible, the 
war ; and that for a period of thirty days the States in con- 
flict shall cease from all direct communication on the sub- 
ject in dispute, to allow, if possible, the arbiters so selected 
to settle it in a peaceable manner. 

Second, That when differences of an international nature 
arise, " involving neither honor nor vital interests, but aris- 
ing from a difference of opinion on points of fact," but upon 
which the parties are unable to agree, they shall as far as 
possible, leave the facts in dispute to an International Com- 
mission of Inquiry selected from a Permanent International 
Court of Arbitration. 

Third, A Permanent International Court of Arbitration, 
composed of not more than four persons " of known com- 
petency on questions of international law. and of the high- 
est moral reputation," appointed for a term of six years 
each, by each of the governments ratifying the treaty, is 
established with permanent headquarters at The Hague. 
Powers in dispute may choose arbiters from the members 
of this court. In the absence of an agreement, such 
tribunal of arbitration is to consist of five arbiters, of 
whom each of the disputing states shall name two. The 
four so named are to choose a fifth ; but in case of a tie the 
fifth arbiter is to be chosen by a power agreed upon, or by 
two powers severally designated by the disputing states. 
This tribunal is to have its ordinary seat at The Hague, and 
its award or decision is to be morally binding upon the 
parties submitting to its arbitration. The Permanent Inter- 
national Court of Arbitration is also to be open to the set- 
tlement of disputes between nations not parties to The 
Hague conference, if these nations wish to accept its 
sen-ices. 



296 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

The Hague Conference and the Monroe Doctrine. — 
A special proviso accompanying the signatures of the 
American delegates to the treaty adopted by The Hague 
conference reads : " Nothing contained in this convention 
shall be so construed as to require the United States of 
America to depart from its traditional policy of not intrud- 
ing upon, interfering with, or entangling itself in the political 
questions or internal administration of any foreign state ; 
nor shall anything contained in the said convention be so 
construed as to require the relinquishment by the United 
States of America of its traditional attitude towards purely 
American questions." 

Recognition of Belligerency in Case of Rebellion. — War 
sometimes arises between a government and some portion 
of its own subjects. This is known as rebellion or revolu- 
tion. In such cases difficult questions often arise as to the 
rights and duties of neutrals towards the fighting parties ; but 
it is a general rule of international law that every de facto 
government, that is every existing government, is sacred 
from arbitrary interference by outside powers. 1 Circum- 
stances sometimes arise, however, owing to the weakness 
or inability of the de facto government to put down the re- 
bellion, or owing to the establishment of an independent 
government by the rebellious subjects, when the so-called 

1 " While nations may take sides against a revolutionary movement in an- 
other state, if invited to do so by the government, they have a right to re- 
main neutral, and in almost all modern movements of this kind nations have 
judged it wisest and best to take neutral attitude. Only when great cruelty, 
on the part of the established government, rouses the indignation of man- 
kind, have they thought best to interfere." — Woolsey's Introduction to the 
Study of International Law. The United States took sides against Spain in 
the Cuban rebellion, both on the ground of humanity and of injury to the 
commercial interests of this country. 



THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER NATIONS. 297 

rebel government may be recognized as a belligerent by 
outside powers, and accorded all the rights of belligerency. 

Governments on an Equality Under International Law. 
— We have seen that every de facto government is accorded 
equal rights under the rules of international law. This is 
true, whatever the form or origin of the government. Thus 
a despotic government, like Russia or Turkey, stands upon 
an equality with liberal governments like the United States 
and France. So the fitful revolutionary governments of 
some of the Spanish American republics, must, while they 
exist, be treated on equal terms with the most stable gov- 
ernment of the great powers ; and this brings us to a brief 
consideration of existing forms of leading governments. 

The Monarchy. — One of the oldest known existing forms 
of government is the monarchy. The word is derived from 
the Greek words — monos, meaning sole or only, and archein, 
meaning to rule. In a monarchy, a great part of the power 
of government is usually centered in a single person — the 
monarch — who is called variously — king, queen, sultan, czar, 
etc. The monarch usually inherits his office, although he 
is sometimes elected; and he holds the office for life, unless 
he voluntarily abdicate, or be deposed. Monarchies are ab- 
solute and limited. In an absolute monarchy, the monarch 
possesses supreme power and authority in the government. 
Such are Russia and Turkey to-day. An absolute mon- 
archy is sometimes called a despotism, and its monarch a 
despot. In a limited monarchy the power of a monarch is 
limited by a legislature representing the people, and by a 
constitution, written or unwritten. Great Britain and Ger- 
many are conspicuous examples of limited monarchy. In 
the latter country the emperor must secure a majority of the 
legislators in the Reichstag, or national legislature, in order 

Hoxie's X. V. iq 



298 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

to pass a law ; while in Great Britain the monarch has be- 
come little more than a figurehead, the British parliament 
being the supreme law-making power, and its laws being 
carried out by an executive department, headed by a cab- 
inet composed of members of parliament. 

The Aristocracy. — In former times, there existed certain 
forms of government, in which the supreme power rested 
in the hands of a comparatively small body of citizens. 
These citizens held their positions because of noble birth or 
great wealth. Such a form of government is called an aris- 
tocracy, from the Greek words, aristos, meaning best, and 
kratos, meaning strength. The government of Great Britain 
at the beginning of the nineteenth century might be termed 
an aristocracy, for the entire administration rested in the 
House of Lords, and in the Crown. One branch of the 
legislative body in nearly all European monarchies, is com- 
posed principally of men inheriting their offices because of 
noble birth, thus bringing the aristocratic element promi- 
nently into these governments. 

The Democracy. — Democracy, from the Greek word 
demos, meaning the people, and kratos, strength, is a form 
of government in which the great mass of the people have 
a voice. In ancient times, certain small states were almost 
pure democracies. Thus, in ancient Athens, every citizen 
had a right to appear and vote in the popular assembly that 
ruled the state. We have seen that the local government 
of a modern New York town meeting, in which every voter 
has a right to speak and vote, is an example of almost 
purely democratic government. In some cantons of Swit- 
zerland, local government at the present time is carried on 
in a popular democratic assembly, attended by all the voters 
of the canton. 



THE I' XI TED STATES AND OTHER NATIONS. 299 

The Republic. — A republic is a form of democracy, in 
which the mass of the people choose representatives to 
make and enforce the laws. Such is the form of government 
in the United States. What chiefly distinguishes the repub- 
lic from the limited monarchy, with its elective monarch, is 
the fact that in the republic, the legislative and executive 
officers are chosen for short periods, and that as a rule all 
male citizens have a right to help elect them ; while in the 
limited monarchy, the monarch is chosen for life, and though 
some of the legislators may be chosen by the people for 
short periods, many of them inherit their offices and hold 
them for life. 

Advantages of the Republican Form of Government. — 
The form of government known as the democratic republic, 
with its written constitution, gives to the mass of the people 
living under it a greater degree of freedom, and at the same 
time, more stability of institutions, than either the monarchy 
or the pure democracy. 1 The monarchy, with vast powers 
centered in a single individual, is peculiarly strong as an ex- 
ecutive government ; and because of this, its powers are 
often used so as to result disastrously to the freedom of its 
subjects. A pure democracy, on the other hand, unre- 
strained by a stable constitution, is likely to suffer from ill- 
advised and easily effected changes. 

Origin of Governments. — From our study of the local 
governments of town, city, county and State — and even of 
the government of the United States — we see that govern- 
mental institutions are a growth, with roots running hun- 
dreds of years back into the life history of the people. 
Governments may not be put on and off like a coat or 
cloak. They grow with the growth of the state. A wise 

1 See chapter III., page 29, " Importance of Local Government." 



3 oo INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

and just people will develop a just and rational form of gov- 
ernment, just as an unwise, weak and immoral people is 
likely to suffer from an unjust and unwise form of govern- 
ment. 

SUMMARY. 

The customs, rules and agreements, regulating the inter- 
course of civilized nations with one another, are known as 
international law. 

The obligations of international law are voluntarily as- 
sumed, and cannot be enforced by one nation as against 
another, except by act of war, or by voluntary submission 
to the decision of a court of arbitration. 

Official intercourse between nations is conducted by am- 
bassadors, ministers, and consuls, and is usually regulated 
by agreements, called treaties. 

Nations at war with each other are known as belligerents. 
Other nations are known as neutrals. Under the rules of 
international law, the government of a neutral nation has no 
right to aid or hinder a belligerent in the prosecution of any 
war. 

Property belonging to the subjects of neutral nations, 
that is consigned to a belligerent for use in prosecuting the 
war, is known as contraband of war ; and it may be seized 
and confiscated when in transportation on the high seas, by 
the opposing belligerent. Belligerents have a right to 
search neutral vessels for contraband of war ; and a vessel 
refusing to allow such search, may be captured by the bel- 
ligerent as a prize of war. 

All actual governments, whatever their origin, form or 
strength, stand on an equality under the rules of interna- 



THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER NATIONS. 301 

tional law ; and no nation has a right, without just cause, 
to interfere in the affairs of another nation. 

Most modern civilized governments may be classified as 
monarchies, absolute and limited, or as republics. Under 
an absolute monarchy the individual citizen has least power 
in the affairs of government ; under a republic, greatest 
power. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

Define international law. How does it differ from State 
and national law ? How is it enforced ? 

Describe the difference between the powers and duties of 
ambassadors and ministers, and the powers and duties of 
consuls. 

What is extradition ? What class of offenders is not 
usually subject to extradition ? 

Define belligerent, neutral, combatant, noncombatant, 
declaration of war, prize of war. 

What is the duty of a neutral government in time of 
war ? 

What is contraband of war ? 

Describe the right of search that may be exercised by a 
belligerent. 

What is a blockade ? W T hat facts are necessary to render 
a blockade lawful, as against the ships of neutral nations? 
What is a privateer ? How are privateers commissioned ? 

What general rule of international law applies equally to 
every de facto government ? 

Define absolute monarchy, limited monarchy, aristocracy, 
democracy, democratic republic. What advantages has a 
constitutional republic over a monarchy ? Over a pure 
democracy ? 



302 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. 

ADDITIONAL READING. 

On the general subject of international law, read Woolsey's Intro- 
duction to the Study of International Law, the introductory chapter ; 
also Part I., Chapter I., " The Rights of States as Independent Sover- 
eignties." On the rights and duties of Belligerents and Neutrals, see 
the same work, Part II., Chapter II., "The Relations Between Bel- 
ligerents and Neutrals." 



CHAPTER XXV. 
Personal and Property Relations. 

In our study of the State, we learned that the great body 
of laws regulating social and business relations, are State 
laws. 1 We saw that most ordinary crimes are defined and 
punished by the State ; that the State guarantees to its citi- 
zens the enjoyment of the civil rights of personal security, 
personal liberty, and private property ; 2 and that it defines 
the legal rights and duties of husband and wife, parent and 
child, employer and employee. In the same way the State 
defines the rights and obligations of persons who enter into 
ordinary business agreements, known as contracts ; lays 
down the law regulating the purchase, sale, or rent of 
houses and lands ; and the law governing the distribution of 
property left by persons deceased. 

Let us examine in detail some of the laws regulating 
these personal and property relations in New York State. 

Sources of State Law. — We have learned that the great 
body of State law consists of provisions laid down by the 
people in the constitution, and of statutes enacted by the 
legislature. But there is still another source of State' law. 
In our study of personal rights, we remember a clause in 
the constitution of the State, which declared all parts of the 
common law of England, not repugnant to the constitution, 

1 Chapter VIII., " The State." See also " Powers of the Several States," 
Chapter XXII. 

8 Chapter XI., " Personal Rights." 

303 



304 



BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 



and in force in the State at the time of the battle of Lexing- 
ton, to be a part of our State law. 1 The common law of 
England consists of a great body of customs, rules and 
maxims, common to the people of England, that through 
long usage and the favorable decisions of the courts, have 
acquired the force of binding law. This English common 
law was brought to America by the early colonists, and ex- 
cept where changed by constitutions or statutes, it is still 
the basis of law throughout the Union. 2 

Contracts. — Most of our ordinary personal and property 
relations are regulated by contract. A contract is a volun- 
tary agreement, in which two or more persons promise to 
do or not to do a specified thing. Any person, not debarred 
by law, may become a party to a contract. A person under 
twenty-one years of age, may not, as a rule, enter into any 
contract, except for the actual necessaries of life, such as 
food, clothing and shelter, and then only when he has no 
parent or guardian to provide for him. Insane persons and 
imbeciles are incapable of making contracts. 

Express and Implied Contracts. — Contracts are express 
and implied. An express contract is one in which the mu- 
tual promises of the contracting parties are expressed in 
words, oral or written. An implied contract is one in 
which, from the acts or circumstances of the parties, the law 
presumes that mutual promises have been made. 

When Contracts are not Binding. — Contracts are not 
binding when one of the parties is by law incapable of mak- 
ing a contract ; when the agreement of one or both is pro- 
cured by force or fraud ; when a thing is agreed to which in 

1 See page 121, Chapter XI., " Personal Rights." 

2 Except in Louisiana, where the Roman or civil law is the basis of State 
law. 



PERSONAL AXD PROPERTY RELATIONS. 305 

its nature is impossible to perform ; or when the thing 
agreed to be performed is prohibited by law. A person 
failing to fulfil a contract lawfully made by him may be 
sued in a court at law and a judgment obtained against him 
for money equal to the loss sustained by reason of his fail- 
ure to perform the contract ; or the court may compel him 
to keep his agreement. Under a State law known as the 
statute of limitations, certain contracts may not be legally 
enforced, unless an effort is made to enforce them within a 
time specified by the law. 

Contracts to Sell or Exchange. — A contract to sell is 
one whereby the owner of some thing agrees to part with his 
ownership for a price or other valuable consideration, to be 
given by the person who agrees to buy. One article may 
also be exchanged for another by contract. Such an ex- 
change is called barter. In order to complete or fulfil the 
contract, the thing sold must be delivered or given up to the 
person buying it, who must in turn pay the price agreed 
upon. 

Unless there be an agreement to the contrary, the seller 
of goods has a legal right to retain possession of them until 
he receives the price. Such a right to hold the property 
sold is called a lien ; but the seller usually loses his lien 
when he parts with the property sold. 

Contracts to Let or Lease. — In a contract to let or lease, 
the owner of certain property agrees, for a valuable consid- 
eration, to part with the use of it, for a specified time, to the 
person leasing it. There is always an implied, if not an 
express contract, on the part of the person leasing property, 
that he will deliver it up to the owner at the time of the ex- 
piration of the lease, in as good a condition as he received 
it, reasonable wear and tear excepted. 



3 o6 BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 

Contracts for Transportation. — Railroad and steamship 
companies, and expressmen who make a business of trans- 
porting persons and goods from place to place for money, 
are known in law as common carriers. A common carrier 
is bound, under ordinary circumstances, to receive and carry 
all goods offered to him for transportation, as well as all 
persons, on payment of his regular charges for such work. 
The common carrier enters into an implied contract to carry 
the persons or goods safely to their destination ; and he is 
responsible for any damage to goods intended for trans- 
portation, while in his possession, and also for injuries 
that occur to persons while in transportation, unless the 
injuries be caused by unavoidable accident, not due to lack 
of care or skill on the part of the carrier. 

Contracts for Insurance. — Persons owning destructible 
property are accustomed to insure themselves against its 
possible loss by taking out a policy of insurance on the 
property. This is a contract between the person insuring 
against loss and the person who is insured. Under it the 
person insured pays to the person who insures a small per- 
centage of the value of the property insured ; and the 
insurer agrees in return to make good any damage to the 
property that may occur within a specified time. In- 
surance is of four kinds — fire, marine, life and accident. 
Under a contract of fire insurance, the insurer agrees to 
indemnify the owner of property from losses by fire ; and 
under a contract of marine insurance, from losses arising 
while at sea ; while under a contract of life insurance, the 
person who insures agrees to pay a certain sum on the death 
of the person insured. By some life insurance contracts, 
known as endowment policies, the insurer also agrees to pay 
a sum of money to the person insured, if the latter be living 



PERSONAL AND PROPERTY RELATIONS. 307 

at the expiration of a certain number of years. In a con- 
tract for accident insurance, the insurer agrees to pay for 
damages that may result from accident to the person 
insured. The contract of insurance is usually written, as 
before stated, in the form of a policy issued by the insurer ; 
and the insured person usually makes a regular annual pay- 
ment, called a premium, for his insurance. 

Principal and Agent. — A person who buys or sells for 
another, or does business for him with third persons, is 
called an agent ; and the person for whom the agent acts is 
known as the principal. In a contract of agency the princi- 
pal appoints the agent and agrees to pay him in return for 
the services which the agent agrees to perform. It is a 
general rule of law that a principal is bound by the acts of 
his agent, if performed in the conduct of the business 
entrusted to him. An agent must follow the instructions of 
his principal. If he does not, he is generally responsible 
for any injuries to third persons that may arise from his acts 
while conducting the business of his principal. 

Employer and Employee. — Contracts between employer 
and employee are generally quite similar to contracts be- 
tween principal and agent. The employer has a legal right 
to the obedience of his employee in all matters within the 
scope of the employment. On the other hand, an employee 
is entitled to work for his employer, and to receive his 
wages during the time it was agreed he should work ; and 
the employee may collect wages from an employer who 
discharges him without just cause before the expiration of 
the time for which he is hired. 

Partnership. — A partnership is a contract by which two 
or more persons agree to unite their money and labor in 
business, and to share the profits and divide the losses. 



3 o8 BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 

Each partner on entering the partnership acquires an interest 
in all the partnership property ; and the acts of one partner 
in connection with the partnership business bind all the 
partners. Each partner is also generally responsible for all 
the partnership debts and obligations. A limited partner- 
ship is one in which certain partners are responsible only 
for limited amounts of the partnership obligations. 

Joint Stock Companies and Mutual Aid Associations. — 
Somewhat similar to the contract of partnership is the con- 
tract between the members of a joint stock company, or the 
members of a mutual aid association ; and between such 
associations or companies and the public. Such com- 
panies and associations are corporations formed under the 
laws of the state, and have the right to do business as a 
single person under the company name. As a rule each 
member is responsible for the debts of his company or 
association to the amount of his individual share or interest. 

The Contract of Marriage. — The law regards marriage 
as a civil contract, in which the husband agrees to love, 
protect, and support his wife, in return for services and 
affection rendered by her to him. The law of New York, 
inherited from the common law, requires no particular 
form of ceremony to make the marriage contract binding ; 
and the contract can be dissolved only by death, or by one 
of the parties obtaining a divorce, according to the rules 
prescribed by law. The law of New York allows a married 
woman to own and dispose of her individual property. On 
the death of the husband, the wife has the use during her 
life of a one-third interest in his real estate. This is called 
the wife's dower interest. When a husband sells real estate, 
his wife must unite with him in signing the deed, otherwise 
she retains her right of dower in the property sold. 



PERSONAL AXD PROPERTY RELATIONS. 309 

Parents and Children. — Parents must care for and sup- 
port their children until the latter are twenty-one years old. 
If a parent neglects or refuses to supply his child with 
necessaries, a third person may supply him and charge 
the parent. Children owe their parents obedience and 
service. What a minor child earns belongs to the parent, 
unless the latter voluntarily relinquish the right to it. A 
parent is entitled to the custody of his minor children, and 
may enforce their obedience by any reasonable exercise of 
force. 

Guardian and Ward. — When a minor child owns property, 
a guardian is appointed to care for the property. If the 
parents be living, one of them is usually made guardian. A 
child having a guardian is known as a ward. The guardian 
is entitled to the obedience of the ward, but not to his 
services, and the guardian must maintain and educate the 
ward out of the latter's property. It is the guardian's duty 
to manage the property of the ward with reasonable skill 
and diligence, and to turn it over to the ward when he 
becomes twenty-one years of age. Guardians are appointed 
in this State by the surrogate's court. 

Contracts Relating to Real Estate — Conveyance by 
Deed. — Property is divided into real estate and personal 
property. The latter is movable property, while real estate 
consists of houses, lands, and their so-called appurtenances. 
Personal property may be sold without a written contract, 
but real estate may be sold and conveyed only by written 
contract called a deed. The person who sells and conveys 
real estate is called the grantor, and the person who buys 
it the grantee. The deed must be signed and sealed by the 
grantor, who must acknowledge his signature before a notary 
public, or other officer authorized to take such an acknowl- 



3 io BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 

edgment. The deed is then delivered by the grantor to the 
grantee, which act usually completes the transfer of the 
property. The laws of New York require a deed to be 
recorded, usually in the office of the county clerk. This is 
to protect innocent third persons, who might be induced to 
buy the property already conveyed by a dishonest grantor. 
It also protects the grantee from claims against the property 
by the creditors of the grantor. The recording of a deed is 
not necessary as between grantor and grantee. A warranty 
deed is one in which the grantor agrees to warrant and 
defend the title conveyed to the grantee against the claims 
of third parties. 

Conveyance of Property by Mortgage. — Property is 
sometimes transferred or conveyed from one person to 
another as security for the payment of a debt. Such a 
transfer is made by written grant called a mortgage, which 
if conveying real estate, is signed, sealed, delivered and 
recorded, like a deed. The grant by mortgage is for a 
limited time, and the property thus granted is said to be 
mortgaged. It remains in the possession of the grantor, on 
the understanding that the legal title to it is to be trans- 
ferred back to him on his paying his debt when due. The 
person conveying property by mortgage is called the mort- 
gagor ; the person to whom it is conveyed the mortgagee. 
If the mortgagor pays his debt at the time of the expiration 
of the grant by mortgage, the mortgagee gives him a 
written satisfaction of mortgage. This cancels the debt, and 
reconveys to the mortgagor the legal title to his property. 
Like the mortgage, the satisfaction should be recorded. 
Should the mortgagor, however, fail to pay his debt when 
due, the mortgagee may begin legal proceedings known as 
foreclosure of the mortgage. Under these proceedings, the 



PERSONAL AXD PROPERTY RELATIONS. 



3 1 



mortgagee having proven his claim against the mortgagor, 
the court orders the sheriff to sell the mortgaged property, 
and from the proceeds of the sale to pay the debt due to the 
mortgagee. Should any money remain after paying the debt 
and the costs of the foreclosure, it goes to the mortgagor. 
Both real and personal property may be conveyed by 
mortgage. A mortgage given on personal property is 
called a chattel mortgage. Such a mortgage is filed gen- 
erally with the town clerk, and in this State it may not be 
given for a longer period than one year. 

Conveyance by Lease. — When real estate is leased for a 
longer period than a year, the law requires it to be done by 
written contract, known as a lease. The lease is given by 
the owner of the property leased to the person who leases 
it, and like a deed or mortgage, the lease must be signed 
and delivered, but it need not be sealed. The owner of 
property leased is called the landlord or lessor; and the 
person to whom it is leased, the tenant or lessee. By the 
lease the landlord grants to the tenant the use of the leased 
property, in return for rent which the tenant agrees to pay. 
Should a tenant fail to pay his rent as agreed in the lease, or 
should he willfully injure the property leased, the landlord 
may obtain possession of it by legal proceedings known as 
eviction. 

Appurtenances. — The ownership of real estate includes 
what is known as its appurtenances. These are minor 
rights, such, for example, as the right of a land owner to use 
a stream of water flowing across his land. Appurtenances 
may be acquired in two ways — by deed, or by long and un- 
interrupted use. Thus a right of way across land belonging 
to another may be granted by deed, or it may be legally 
acquired by twenty years of uninterrupted use. A transfer 



3 i2 BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 

of land by deed, or otherwise, includes a transfer pf all its 
appurtenances without formal or specific enumeration. 

Conveyance by Will. — As a general rule, any person 
owning property has a right to say how it shall be disposed 
of after his death. This is done by the property-owner 
making a written instrument, called a will. Real estate, as 
well as personal property, may thus be conveyed from one 
person to another by will. In order that a will may be 
valid, it must be made by a person of sound mind and un- 
derstanding, who in the presence of two witnesses, must 
sign it, and declare it to be his last will and testament. The 
witnesses must then sign as witnesses. The person who 
makes the will is called the testator, and a gift made by will 
is called a bequest. A person dying without having made 
a will is said to be intestate. A will once made, may be 
revoked at any time before death, by the testator making 
another and later will, or it may be destroyed. An addition 
to a will may be made by the testator in the same manner 
and with the same formality as the original will. Such an 
addition is called a codicil. Wills that convey real estate 
are recorded like mortgages and deeds, and for similar 
reasons. As a husband cannot deed away his wife's dower 
interest, so he cannot convey it by will. The property of a 
person who dies without leaving a will is distributed to his 
lawful heirs by proceedings in the surrogate's court, accord- 
ing to the rules of the State law. 

Estates. — Any interest which a person possesses in prop- 
erty is known as an estate. The law distinguishes between 
the property itself, and the interest which the owner has in 
it, which is the estate. An estate, to be complete, must 
consist of the right of property, the right of possession, and 
the actual possession. The largest possible interest or 



PERSONAL AXD PROPERTY RELATIONS. 313 

estate which a person may have in real estate, is known as 
a fee simple. A person owning land in fee simple may 
hold it during his life and dispose of it after his death. An 
estate for life is an interest that ends with the death of the 
person possessing it. An estate for years is an interest for a 
certain definite time only. An estate by courtesy is the life 
interest which a husband and father possesses in his de- 
ceased wife's real estate. An estate in future is the right to 
the future possession of property. 

Promissory Notes. — A debtor sometimes gives his 
creditor a written evidence of his debt in the form of a 
promissory note. This is a written promise to pay a 
definite sum of money at a future date. The person giving 
or making the note is called the maker ; the person he 
promises to pay, the payee ; the amount which is promised 
to pay, the face of the note. In a promissory note, the 
maker may agree to pay the face of the note at* a certain 
definite date, or he may agree to pay whenever the note is 
presented to him by the lawful owner, and payment de- 
manded. The latter form is called a note payable on de- 
mand. A note may be made with or without containing a 
promise to pay interest. When the note contains such a 
promise, interest is reckoned from the date of the note un- 
til the time of its payment. When a note does not contain 
this promise, it does not begin to draw interest until after 
the note is due. A promissory note is negotiable, that is, 
transferable from one owner to another, when it is drawn 
so that the maker promises to pay the face of the note to 
the " order " of the payee, or " to bearer." In such case, the 
payee may sell the note to a third person. When the payee 
sells a negotiable note, he writes his name across the back, 
as an indorser. By this act, he becomes responsible for its 

Hoxie s N". Y. — 20 



3 1 4 BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 

payment to any other person, into whose hands the note 
may lawfully come. The payee may indorse the note to a 
particular person, who is then known as the indorsee ; or he 
may indorse it in blank. The former is called a specific in- 
dorsement. In such case, only the indorsee may collect the 
note, unless he, by his own indorsement, still further transfers 
it. Each and every indorser of a note is responsible for its 
payment, but no indorser can, as a rule, be held responsible, 
unless the note has been presented, when due, to the maker, 
and payment refused by him ; and in order to hold an in- 
dorser, he must be promptly notified in writing of the failure 
of the maker to pay the note. Making such notice is called 
" protesting the note." A promissory note is non-negotia- 
ble, that is, not transferable from one owner to another, 
when the promise is to pay the payee only, without the 
words " or order," " or bearer." No note is negotiable after 
it has become due. 

SUMMARY. 

Nearly all ordinary personal and property relations are 
regulated by State laws, which have their sources in the 
constitution, adopted by the people ; the statutes, enacted 
by the legislature ; or in the common law of England, so 
far as it is applicable to existing modern conditions. 

Ordinary personal and property relations are usually 
regulated by contracts, express or implied. Among these 
are contracts to buy, sell, and lease ; contracts for transporta- 
tion; contracts for insurance ; contracts resulting from the re- 
lations between principal and agent, employer and employee ; 
contracts arising from the relations between parties to promis- 
sory notes ; contracts arising from partnership, marriage, and 
the relations of parent and child and guardian and ward. 



PERSOAAL A XT) PROPERTY RELATIONS. 315 

Real estate is transferred from one person to another by 
contracts known as deed, mortgage, and lease. Real estate 
is also transferred by will. 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 

What is meant by the common law ? How does it 
differ from statute law? Name the three sources of State 
law. 

What is a contract ? What persons may enter into con- 
tracts ? State the difference between an express and an 
implied contract. Under what circumstances is a contract 
not binding ? 

Describe the contract known as a lease. What implied 
obligation does a lessee take upon himself with reference to 
the lessor's property ? 

State generally the obligations of a common carrier. 
What is the contract of insurance? Of principal and agent? 
Employer and employee ? 

What is partnership? What are the obligations of a 
partner in a limited partnership ? In a joint stock com- 
pany ? 

What is the right of dower? Define guardian, ward, real 
estate, grantor, grantee. 

Name four legal requirements of a deed. How and win- 
are deeds recorded ? What is a mortgage ? What is meant 
by foreclosure of a mortgage ? Satisfaction of a mortgage ? 
Chattel mortgage ? 

What are appurtenances ? How is legal title to appur- 
tenances acquired ? 

What is a will ? Describe the formalities necessary to 
the making of a will. What is a codicil? How may a will 



3 i6 BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LAW. 

be revoked ? What court has charge of distributing the 
property of persons leaving wills, and of intestates ? 

What is an estate ? A fee simple ? An estate for life ? 
An estate for years ? 

Define promissory note, maker, payee, indorser, indorse- 
ment in blank. When is a note negotiable? What is 
meant by protesting a note ? 



APPENDIX 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA 



We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America. 

ARTICLE I. SECTION i. — i. All legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

SECTION 2. — 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States ; and the electors 
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most nu- 
merous branch of the State legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age 
of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be 
chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several 
States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free per- 
sons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians 
not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be 
made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United 
States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they 
shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative ; and 
until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be en- 
titled to choose three ; Massachusetts, eight ; Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New Jersey, four; Penn- 
sylvania, eight ; Delaware, one; Maryland, six; Virginia, ten ; North Carolina, 
five ; South Carolina, five ; and Georgia, three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the executive 
authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

317 



3i8 APPENDIX 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other offi- 
cers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section 3. — 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years ; and 
each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first elec- 
tion, they shall be divided as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of 
the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second 
year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third 
class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every 
second year ; and if vacancies happen, by resignation or otherwise, during the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary 
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such 
vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president p?-o 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office 
of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sit- 
ting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President 
of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside ; and no person shall 
be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal 
from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or 
profit, under the United States ; but the party convicted shall nevertheless be 
liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. 

SECTION 4. — 1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for Sen- 
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature 
thereof; but the Congress may, at any time, by law, make or alter such regula- 
tions, except as to the places of choosing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a 
different day. 

Section 5. — 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and 
may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner 
and under such penalties as each House may provide. 

2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members 
for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 3 J 9 

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time 
publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either House, on any question, shall, 
at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent 
of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. — 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of 
the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of 
the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been in- 
creased, during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United 
States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. 

Section 7. — 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on 
other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United 
States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objec- 
tions to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objec- 
tions at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such 
reconsideration, two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise 
be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a 
law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall 
be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be 
returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which 
case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of ad- 
journment) shall be presented to the President of the United States, and before 
the same shall take effect shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved by 
him, shall be re-passed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

SECTION 3.— The Congress shall have power — 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and 



32o APPENDIX 

provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States ; but 
all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, 
and with the Indian tribes; 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the 
subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and fix 
the standard of weights and measures ; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current 
coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads ; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for 
limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective 
writings and discoveries ; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and 
offenses against the law of nations ; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules con- 
cerning captures on land and water ; 

12. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use 
shall be for a longer term than two years ; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy ; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces ; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers and 
the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by 
Congress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district 
(not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States and the 
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United 
State's, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings ; and, 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution 
in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

SECTION 9. — 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 3 2 * 

duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each 
person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the 
census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No pref- 
erence shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of 
one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State 
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appro- 
priations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and no person 
holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the 
Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind what- 
ever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Section 10. — 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- 
tion ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any 
bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports except what may be absolutely necessary for exe- 
cuting its inspection laws : and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by 
any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United 
States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of ton- 
nage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or 
compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICUE II. Section i. — 1. The executive power shall be vested in a Pres- 
ident of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term 
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, 
be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may 
direct, a number of Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Repre- 
sentatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress ; but no Senator or 
Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

Clause j has been superseded by the 12th Article of Amendments. 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the 
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same through- 
out the United States. 



3 2 2 APPENDIX 

5. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States 
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of 
President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have 
attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resig- 
nation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the same 
shall devolve on the Vice-President ; and the Congress may by law provide for 
the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and 
Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such offi- 
cer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed or a President shall be 
elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation, 
which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he 
shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other 
emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following 
oath or affirmation: 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, pro- 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

SECTION 2. — 1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called 
into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in 
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any 
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in 
cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to 
make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur ; and he shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
Embassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, 
and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress 
may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, 
in the President alone, in the Courts of law, or in the heads of Departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at 
the end of their next session. 

SECTION 3. — He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of 
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as 
he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary occasions, 
convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 3*3 

time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive Embassadors and other public 
Ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall com- 
mission all the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. — The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, 
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. Section i. — The judicial power of the United States shall 
be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme 
and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at 
stated times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not be dimin- 
ished during their continuance in office. 

Section 2. — 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting Embassadors, 
other public Ministers, and Consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; to contro- 
versies between two or more States ; between a State and citizens of another 
State ; between citizens of different States ; between citizens of the same State 
claiming lands under grants of different States ; and between a State, or the cit- 
izens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting Embassadors, other public Ministers, and Consuls, and 
those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original 
jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall 
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and 
under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; 
and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been 
committed ; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such 
place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Section 3. — 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two wit- 
nesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but 
no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except dur- 
ing the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. Section i.— Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such 
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

SECTION 2. — 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who 



3M APPENDIX 

shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the 
executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be re- 
moved to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, es- 
caping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be 
discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section 3. — 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts 
of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well 
as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United 
States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice 
any claims of the United States or of any particular State. 

SECTION 4.— The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; 
and, on application of the legislature, or of the Executive (when the legislature 
can not be convened) against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V.— The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a 
convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to 
all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legis- 
latures of three fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress : provided, that no Amendment which may be made prior to the year 
one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and 
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, without 
its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. — 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the 
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of 
the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the 
United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to 
support this Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a quali- 
fication to any office or public trust under the United States. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 325 

ARTICLE VII. — The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratify- 
ing the same. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to 
petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. — A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. — No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to 
be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. — The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio- 
lated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath 
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the per- 
sons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. — No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except 
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual 
service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be 
taken for public use without just compensation. 

ARTICLE VI. — In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been pre- 
viously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the 
accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel 
for his defense. 

ARTICLE VII. — In suits at common law where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no 
fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United 
States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. — Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. — The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 



3 2 6 APPENDIX 

ARTICLE X.— The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, 
or to the people. 

ARTICLE XL— The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against 
one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects 
of any foreign state. 

ARTICLE XII. — The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
an inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots 
the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as Pres- 
ident, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes 
for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat 
of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; 
the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the Presi- 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; 
and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest 
numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the 
House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. 
But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the represen- 
tation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist 
of a member or members from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives 
shall not choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President 
shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disa- 
bility of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-Pres- 
ident ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number 
of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be 
eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII. — i. Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV. — I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 3 2 7 

shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States , nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec- 
tion of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according 
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election 
for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the 
members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of 
such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or 
in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis 
of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of 
such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of 
President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the 
United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of 
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to sup- 
port the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or 
rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But 
Congress may, by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, in- 
cluding debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in sup- 
pressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the 
United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the 
loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims 
shall be held illegal and void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 
provisions of this article. 

ARTICLE XV.— 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
lation. 



ABSTRACT OF THE STATE CONSTI 
TUTION 



ARTICLE I.— Personal Rights. 

Section i. — Persons not to be Disfranchised. — No member of the State 
may be disfranchised or be deprived of any right or privilege, except by law 
and after a legal trial. 

Section 2. — Trial by Jury. —The right to trial by jury, in all cases where 
it has heretofore been used, shall remain inviolate. 

Section 3. — Freedom of Worship. — Free exercise and enjoyment of re- 
ligious profession and worship shall be allowed to all ; and no person shall be 
rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions in matters 
of religion. 

Section 4. — Habeas Corpus. — The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
may not be suspended, except in time of rebellion or invasion. 

Section 5. — Excessive Bail and Fines. — Excessive bail shall not be 
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments in- 
flicted, nor shall witnesses be unreasonably detained. 

Section 6. — Rights of Accused Persons. — No person may be held to 
answer for a capital or infamous crime (except in cases of impeachment, cases 
in the army and navy, and cases of petit larceny under regulations of the 
legislature) unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury. Accused 
persons may appear in court and defend themselves in person and by counsel. 
No person may be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense ; nor in a crimi- 
nal case be compelled to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of 
life, liberty or property without due process of law. Private property may 
not be taken for public use without just compensation. 

Section 7. — Compensation on Taking Private Property. Private Roads. 
Drainage of Agricultural Lands. — When private property is taken for public 
use, compensation may be ascertained by commissioners appointed by a court 
of record. Private roads may be opened when necessary, the necessity and 
the amount of damage to be ascertained by a jury of freeholders. Owners 
. —21 329 



330 APPENDIX 

of agricultural lands may construct necessary drains across the property of 
another, under proper restrictions and with just compensation. 

Section 8. — Freedom of Speech and the Press. — Every citizen may freely 
speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for 
the abuse of that right. In criminal prosecutions for libel the truth may be 
given in evidence, and if the matter charged as libelous is true, but was pub- 
lished with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party must be acquitted. 

Section 9. — Right of Assembly and Petition. Divorces. Prohibition 
of Gambling. — The people may peaceably assemble and petition the govern- 
ment or any department thereof. Divorces may not be granted except by 
judicial proceedings. Lotteries, pool-selling, book-making and all gambling 
are unlawful. 

Section 10. — Escheats. — All lands the titles to which fail from defect of 
heirs revert to the people of the State. 

Section ii. — Feudal Tenures Abolished. — All feudal tenures with all 
their incidents are abolished, except rents and services certain which have 
been lawfully created. 

Section 12. — Allodial Tenures. — All lands in the State are allodial and 
may be sold or disposed of by the owners. 

Section 13. — Leases of Agricultural Land. — No lease of agricultural land 
may be made for a longer period than twelve years. 

Section 15. — Purchase of Land from Indians. — No purchase of land from 
the Indians is valid unless made under the authority and with the consent of 
the legislature. 

Section 16. — Common Law and the State Law. — Those parts of the 
Common Law of England not repugnant to the State constitution, which 
were in force in the State April 19, 1775, and have not since expired or been 
repealed, continue to be the law of the State, subject to alteration or repeal 
by the legislature. 

Section 18. — Damages for Injuries Causing Death. — The right of action 
to recover damages for injuries resulting in death shall not be abrogated, and- 
the amount recoverable shall not be subject to statutory limitation. 

ARTICLE II.— Voting. 

Section i. — Qualifications of Voters. — Every male twenty-one years of 
age, who has been a citizen for ninety days, and an inhabitant of the State 
for one year, and a resident of the county for four months, and a resident of 
the election district for thirty days, has a right to vote. No elector in the 
military service of the State, or in the army or navy of the United States, 



STATE CONSTITUTION 331 

shall be deprived of the right to vote by reason of his absence from his 
election district. 

Section 2. — Persons Excluded from the Suffrage. — No person who shall 
receive, accept or offer to receive, or pay, offer or promise to pay, contribute, 
offer or promise to contribute to another, to be paid or used, any money or 
other valuable thing as a compensation or reward for the giving or withhold- 
ing of a vote at an election ; or who shall make or become directly or in- 
directly interested in any bet depending upon the result of any election, may 
vote at such election. The legislature shall enact laws excluding from the 
right of suffrage all persons convicted of bribery or of any infamous crime. 

Section 3. — Residence for Purposes of Voting. — No person gains or loses 
a residence for purposes of voting by reason of his presence or absence in the 
service of the United States, or in navigation, or at school, or while kept in 
any almshouse or asylum supported wholly or partly at public expense or by 
charity, or while confined in a public prison. 

Section 4. — Registration. — Registration for purposes of voting must be 
completed at least ten days before the election. In cities and villages having 
5,000 inhabitants and over, registration must be on personal application of 
the would-be voter. Persons not residents of such cities and villages need 
not personally apply for registration at the first meeting of the board of 
registry. 

Section 5. — Manner of Voting. — All elections, except for such town 
officers as may by law be directed otherwise to be chosen, shall be by ballot, 
or by some other prescribed method of secret voting. 

Section 6. — Election and Registration Boards to be Bipartisan. — All 
election and registration boards must be composed of an equal number of 
representatives from the two political parties that at the last preceding election 
cast the highest and the next highest number of votes. This does not apply 
to town meetings or to village elections. 

ARTICLE III.— The Legislature. 

Section i. — Legislative Powers. — The legislative power of the State is 
vested in the senate and the assembly. 

Section 2. — Number and Terms of Senators and Assemblymen. — The 
senate is composed of fifty members except as otherwise provided, and 
senators are elected for terms of two years each. The assembly is com- 
posed of 150 members, assemblymen being elected for terms of one year 
each. 



332 APPENDIX 

Section 3. — Senate Districts. — The Slate is divided into fifty senate dis- 
tricts, each of which elects one senator. Senate districts are as follows: 

1. Richmond and Suffolk counties. 

2. Queens County. 1 

3. 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th wards of Brooklyn. 

4. 7th, 13th, 19th and 2 1st wards of Brooklyn. 

5. 8th, loth, 1 2th, 30th and 31st wards of Brooklyn. 

6. 9th, nth, 20th and 22d wards of Brooklyn. 

7. 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th wards of Brooklyn. 

8. 23d, 24th, 25th, 29th and 32d wards of Brooklyn. 

9. 1 8th, 26th, 27th and 28th wards of Brooklyn. 
• 10. 1st, 2d and 4th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

n. 6th, 8th and 10th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

12. 1 2th, 14th and 16th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

13. 3d, 5th and 7th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

14. 1 8th, 20th and 22d assembly districts, Manhattan. 

15. 25th, 27th and 29th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

16. 9th, nth and 13th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

17. 15th, 17th and 19th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

18. 24th, 26th and 28th assembly districts, Manhattan. 

19. 21st, 23d and 31st assembly districts, Manhattan. 

20. 30th, 32c! and 33d assembly districts, Manhattan. 

21. 34th and 35th assembly districts, Manhattan and The Bronx. 

22. Westchester County and part of The Bronx (Annexed District). 

23. Orange and Rockland counties. 

24. Dutchess, Columbia and Putnam counties. 

25. Ulster and Greene counties. 

26. Delaware, Chenango and Sullivan counties. 

27. Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton and Schoharie counties. 

28. Saratoga, Schenectady and Washington counties. 

29. Albany County. 

30. Rensselaer County. • 

31. Clinton, Essex and Warren counties. 

32. St. Lawrence and Franklin counties. 

33. Otsego and Herkimer counties. 

34. Oneida County. 

35. Jefferson and Lewis counties. 

36. Onondaga County. 

1 Including the new county of Nassau. 



STATE CONSTITUTION 

Oswego and Madison counties. 

Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties. 

Cayuga and Seneca counties. 

Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties. 

Steuben and Yates counties. 

Ontario and Wayne counties. 

I Monroe County. 

Niagara, Genesee and Orleans counties. 
Allegany, Livingston and Wyoming counties. 

I Erie County. 

Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. 



333 



Section 4. — Enumeration and Reapportionment. — The inhabitants of the 
State are to be enumerated in 1905 and every tenth year thereafter. After 
each enumeration the legislature must alter the senate districts so that each 
shall contain as nearly as possible an equal number of inhabitants. Districts 
must be in compact form, and counties must not be divided except to form one 
or more senate districts wholly within a county. No town or city block may 
be divided in forming senate districts. No county may have four or more 
senators unless it has a full ratio for each senator. No one county may con 
tain more than one third and no two adjoining counties more than one half 
of the total number of senators. The ratio for apportioning senators is ob- 
tained by dividing the total population, aliens excluded, by fifty, and the 
senate is to contain fifty members, except that if any county having three or 
more senators at the time of an apportionment is entitled to an additional 
senator or senators, such additional senator or senators shall be given to the 
county in addition to the fifty senators. 

SECTION 5. — Apportionment of Assemblymen. — Assemblymen are to be 
apportioned among the counties in proportion to population, but no county 
heretofore established is to have less than one, except Hamilton which 
with the county of Fulton together elect one assemblyman. The ratio of ap- 
portionment for assemblymen is obtained by dividing the whole number of 
inhabitants, aliens excepted, by 150. One member of assembly is apportioned 
to every county containing less than the ratio and one-half over and two to 
every other county. The remaining members are apportioned to counties 
having more than two ratios in proportion to population, aliens excepted. 
Counties entitled to more than one assemblyman are divided into assembly 



334 APPENDIX 

districts by the board of supervisors, or by the common council where a city 
embraces an entire county and the latter has no board of supervisors. Fol- 
lowing is the present apportionment : 

Counties entitled to one assemblyman : Allegany, Chemung, Chenango, 
Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton (including 
Hamilton), Genesee, Herkimer, Greene, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, 
Montgomery, Ontario, Orleans, Otsego, Putnam, Richmond, Rockland, 
Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Sullivan, Tioga, Tomp- 
kins, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates. 

Counties entitled to two assemblymen : Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, 
Chautauqua, Dutchess, Jefferson, Niagara, Orange, Oswego, St. Lawrence, 
Steuben, Suffolk, Ulster. 

Counties entitled to three assemblymen: Oneida, Queens, 1 Rensselaer, 
Westchester. 

Counties entitled to four assemblymen : Albany, Monroe, Onondaga. 

County entitled to eight assemblymen : Erie. 

County entitled to twenty-one assemblymen : Kings. 

County entitled to thirty-five assemblymen : New York. 

Section 6. — Compensation of Legislators. — Each member of the legisla- 
ture is to leceive an annual salary of $1,500, and in addition one dollar for 
every ten miles which he travels going to and returning from the meeting- 
place of the legislature once in each session, on the most usual route. 

Section 7. — Civil Appointments of Legislators Void. — No member of the 
legislature may receive any civil appointment during the time for which he is 
elected, and any such appointment is void. 

Section 8. — Persons Disqualified from Being Members of the Legisla- 
ture. — No person is eligible to the legislature, who at the time of his election, 
or within one hundred days previous thereto, has been a member of Con- 
gress, or a civil or military officer under the United States, or an officer under 
any city government. 

Section 9. — Time of Elections. — Members of the legislature are elected 
on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, unless otherwise 
ordered by the legislature. 

Section 10 — Powers of Each House. — A majority of the members of each 
house of the legislature constitutes a quorum. Each house makes its own 
rules of procedure, judges of the election and qualifications of its members, 
and chooses its own officers. The senate chooses a temporary president to 
act in the absence of the lieutenant governor. 

1 The third district of the former Queens County includes the new County of Nassau. 



S7',l TE COXSTJTL TIOX 



335 



Section ii. — Journals and Proceedings. — Each house keeps a journal of 
its proceedings, which are open to the public except when public welfare 
requires secrecy. Neither house may adjourn for more than two days with- 
out the consent of the other. 

Section 12. — Freedom of Debate. — No member may be legally ques- 
tioned in any other place for any speech or debate in either house of the 
legislature. 

Section 13. — Bills may Originate in Either House. — Any bill may origi- 
nate in either house of the legislature, and all bills passed by one house may 
be amended by the other. 

Section 14. — Enacting Clause. — The enacting clause of all bills shall be, 
" The People of the State of New York represented in senate and assembly, 
do enact as follows " : 

Section 15. — Manner of Passing Bills. — No bill may be passed or become 
a law unless it is printed and lies in its final form for at least three calendar 
legislative days upon the desks of the members, unless the governor or acting 
governor certify to the need of its immediate passage. No bill may be passed 
except by the assent of the majority of the members elected to each branch 
of the legislature. No amendment is allowed on the last reading of a bill. 

Section 16. — Private and Local Bills. — No private or local bill may em- 
brace more than one subject, and that must be expressed in its title. 

Section 18. — Certain Private and Local Bills Prohibited. — Private or local 
bills may not be passed in the following cases, but the legislature may enact 
general laws thereon affecting the whole State : Changing names of persons ; 
laying out, opening, altering and discontinuing roads; locating or changing 
county seats; changing venue in civil or criminal suits; incorporating vil- 
lages; selecting and summoning jurors; regulating the rate of interest; con- 
ducting elections; creating and changing fees of public officers; granting the 
right to lay railroad tracks; granting to any private corporation, association 
or individual any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise ; providing for 
bridges except over the Hudson below Waterford, on the East River, or over 
waters forming the boundaries of the State. 

Section 19. — Private Claims not to be Audited by the Legislature. — The 
legislature may audit no private claim, but may appropriate money to pay 
claims lawfully audited. 

Section 20. — Two-thirds Bills. — The assent of two thirds of the members 
of each legislative house is necessary to pass a bill appropriating public 
money for local or private purposes. 

Section 21. — Appropriation Bills. — No money may be paid out of the 
treasury of the State except in pursuance of an appropriation by law. 



336 APPENDIX 

Section 22. — Restricting Provisions in Appropriation Bills. — No provision 
may be embraced in an annual appropriation or supply bill unless it relates 
specifically to some particular appropriation in the bill. 

Section 24. — Tax Bills. — Every law imposing a tax must state distinctly 
the tax and the object to which it is to be applied. 

Section 25. — Quorum in case of Money Bills. — On the passage of an act 
imposing a tax, creating a debt, or making an appropriation of public money, 
or releasing any claim of the State, the vote of each member must be re- 
corded, and three fifths of all the members elected to either house constitute a 
quorum. 

Section 26. — Boards of Supervisors. — Every county, except in cities whose 
boundaries are the same as those of a county, must have a board of supervis- 
ors ; but in such cities the duties of supervisors devolve upon the common 
council. 

Section 27. — Local Legislative Powers. — The legislature may confer upon 
boards of supervisors further powers of local legislation. 

Section 28. — Extra Compensation Prohibited. — Neither the legislature, a 
common council, nor a board of supervisors may grant any extra compensa- 
tion to any public officer, servant, or contractor. 

Section 29. — Prison Labor Contract System Abolished. — The labor of 
public prisoners may not be farmed out, contracted, given or sold to any 
person, firm, association or corporation ; but the products of prison labor may 
be disposed of to the State or any of its political divisions or public 
institutions. 

ARTICLE IV.— Governor and Lieutenant Governor. 

Section i. — Executive Power. — The executive power of the State is vested 
in the governor. Governor and lieutenant governor are chosen at the same 
time and hold office for a term of two years each. 

Section 2. — Qualifications. — To be eligible to the office of governor or 
lieutenant governor a person must be a citizen of the United States, at least 
thirty years of age, and five years a resident of the State. 

Section 3. — Election. — Governor and lieutenant governor are to be elected 
at the times and places of choosing members of the assembly. On a tie vote 
the two houses of the legislature may choose a governor or lieutenant 
governor. 

Section 4. — Governor's Powers and Duties. — The governor is commander 
in chief of the State's military and naval forces, has power to convene the 
legislature or senate in extra session, must send a message to the legislature 



STATE CONSTITUTION 337 

at each session, transacts all necessary business with the civil or military 
officers of the government, must faithfully execute all laws, and receives an 
annual salary of 3 10,000. 

Section 5. — Reprieves, Commutations and Pardons. — The governor has 
power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for all 
offenses except treason and cases of impeachment. 

Section 6. — When Lieutenant Governor Acts for Governor. — The lieu- 
tenant governor acts in place of the governor when the latter is impeached, 
removed from office, dies, resigns, or becomes unable to discharge the duties 
of his office. 

Section 7. — Duties of Lieutenant Governor. Succession to Governorship. 
— The lieutenant governor is president of the senate and has a casting vote 
therein. When both governor and lieutenant governor become for any 
reason unable to perform the duties of the governor, the president of the 
senate is to act as governor, and in case of his disability, the speaker of the 
assembly. 

Section 8. — Salary of Lieutenant Governor. — The lieutenant governor is 
to receive an annual salary of $5,000 and no other compensation. 

Section 9. — Legislative Powers of Governor. — Bills passed by the legisla- 
ture must be presented to the governor before becoming laws. If he approves 
a bill he signs it. If the governor disapproves of a bill so passed he must re- 
turn it to the house in which it originated with a statement of his objections. 
The legislature must then proceed to reconsider the bill, and if it is finally 
approved by two thirds of the members elected to both houses, it becomes a 
law in spite of the objections of the governor. A bill not returned by the 
governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to 
him becomes a law the same as if he had signed it, unless the legislature by 
its adjournment prevents a return of the bill, in which case it does not be- 
come a law without the express approval of the governor. No bill becomes 
a law after the final adjournment of the legislature unless approved by the 
governor within thirty days after adjournment. The governor may veto 
separate items in an appropriation bill, while allowing other portions of the 
bill to pass. 

ARTICLE V.— Other Executive Officers. 

Section i. — Officers, Terms and Compensation. — The secretary of state, 
comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, and State engineer and surveyor are 
to be chosen at the same times and places as the governor and lieutenant 
governor and are to hold office for terms of two years each. The State engi- 
neer and surveyor must be a practical civil engineer. 



338 APPENDIX 

Section 3. — Superintendent of Public Works. — A superintendent of public 
works is to be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate, to hold office until the end of the governor's term, or until his 
successor is appointed. He is to execute all laws relating to the repair, navi- 
gation, construction and improvement of the canals, except such as are not 
confided to the State engineer and surveyor. He may be suspended or re- 
moved from office by the governor. 

Section 4. — Superintendent of State Prisons. — A superintendent of State 
prisons is to be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the senate, for a term of five years. He may be removed by the gov- 
ernor for cause. 

Section 5.— Various Commissioners. — The lieutenant governor, speaker of 
the assembly, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, and 
State engineer and surveyor are the commissioners of the land office. The 
lieutenant governor, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer and attorney- 
general are commissioners of the canal fund. The latter with the State 
engineer and surveyor, and the superintendent of public works, are the canal 
board. 

Section 7. — State Treasurer may be Suspended. — The governor may 
suspend the State treasurer during a recess of the legislature, when it appears 
that the treasurer has violated his duty. 

Section 9. — Civil Service Appointments and Promotions. — Appointments 
and promotions in the civil service of the State, and of all civil divisions 
thereof, including cities and villages, are to be made according to merit and 
fitness, to be ascertained, so far as practicable, by examinations, which so far 
as practicable, are to be competitive. Honorably discharged soldiers and 
sailors, who are veterans of the late civil war, and residents and citizens of 
the State, are entitled to preference in appointment and promotion without 
regard to their standing on the civil service lists. 

ARTICLE VI.— Courts. 

Section i. — Supreme Court. — The supreme court is continued with gen- 
eral jurisdiction in law and equity, subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the 
court of appeals. The legislature may alter the judicial districts once after 
every enumeration of the inhabitants of the State under the constitution, and 
may reapportion the justices. 

Section 2. — Judicial Departments. Appellate Division Supreme Court. — 
The legislature must divide the State into four judicial departments, the first 
to consist of the County of New York, the others to be bounded by county 



STATE CONSTITUTION 339 

lines, to be compact and as nearly equal in population as possible. There is 
to be an appellate division of the supreme court, to consist of seven justices in 
the first department and of five in each of the others. Four constitute a 
quorum and the concurrence of three is necessary to a decision. The gover- 
nor appoints from among all the justices of the supreme court, the judges of the 
several appellate divisions and the presiding justice in each division. 

Section 3. — Justice not to Sit in Review. — No judge may sit in the appel- 
late division or in the court of appeals in review of a decision previously 
made by him in another court. 

Section 4. — Terms of Office. — The official terms of justices of the supreme 
court are fourteen years. The governor may fill vacancies by appointment. 

Section 7. — Court of Appeals. — This court is to consist of seven justices — 
including a chief justice — elected for terms of fourteen years. Five are a 
quorum, and the agreement of four is necessary to a decision. The governor 
may appoint four supreme court judges to sit temporarily in this court. 

Section 9. — Jurisdiction of Court of Appeals. — The jurisdiction of the 
court of appeals, except where the judgment is of death, is limited to a re- 
view of questions of law. No unanimous decision of the appellate division 
of the supreme court that there is evidence tending to sustain the finding of a 
fact or a verdict not directed by the court, may be reviewed by the court of 
appeals. The right to appeal to the latter court shall not depend upon the 
amount of money involved. 

Section 10. — Judges not to Hold Other Office. — The judges of the court 
of appeals and of the supreme court may hold no other office or public trust. 

Section ii. — Removal of Judges. — The judges of the court of appeals and 
of the supreme court may be removed for cause by concurrent resolution of 
both houses of the legislature, if two thirds of the members elected to each 
house concur. Other judicial officers, except justices of the peace and justices 
of inferior courts not of record, may be removed by two thirds of the senators, 
on the recommendation of the governor. 

Section 12. — Age Restriction. — No person may hold the office of judge or 
justice of any court longer than until and including the last day of December 
next after he shall be seventy years of age. 

Section 13. — Trial of Impeachments. — The assembly, by a vote of a ma- 
jority of the members elected, has the power of impeachment. The court for 
the trial of impeachments is composed of the president of the senate, a major- 
ity of the senators, and a majority of the judges of the court of appeals sitting 
together. Conviction is by concurrence of two thirds of the members. The 
judgment of the court does not extend beyond removal from office, or re- 
moval and disqualification to hold any office under the State. 



34° 



APPENDIX 



Section 14. — County Courts. — There is to be a county court in each 
county, presided over by a county judge, elected for a term of six years by 
the voters of his county. Kings county has two county judges. County 
courts have original jurisdiction in civil suits where the amount involved does 
not exceed $2,coo. 

Section 15. — Surrogate's Courts. — Surrogate's courts aire to be held in 
each county, by a surrogate chosen for a term of six years (except in New 
York county, where the term is fourteen years) by the people of the county ; 
except that in counties having less than 40,000 population the county judge is 
to act as surrogate. 

Section 17. — Justices of the Peace and District Court Judges. — Justices of 
the peace are to be elected in each town at the annual town meeting for terms 
of four years each. Their number and classification may be regulated by 
law. Justices of the peace and justices of inferior local courts not of record 
may be removed for cause by such courts as may be prescribed by law. Jus- 
tices of the peace and district court judges may be elected in the different cities 
with powers and terms prescribed by law. 

Section 18. — Inferior Local Courts. — Inferior local courts may be estab- 
lished by the legislature, but not as courts of record. Such courts may exer- 
cise no equity jurisdiction nor any greater jurisdiction in other respects than 
is conferred upon county courts. 

Section 20. — Judges not to Receive Fees. — No judicial officer, except 
justices of the peace, may receive any fees. No judge of the court of appeals, 
or justice of the supreme court, or any county judge or surrogate elected in a 
county having more than 120,000 population, may practice law in a court of 
record in this State, or act as referee. Only attorneys of this State are eligi- 
ble for judicial positions. 

Section 21. — Publication of Statutes. — The legislature must provide for 
the speedy publication of all statutes, but all laws and judicial decisions may 
be published freely by any person. 

ARTICLE VII.— State Property and Debts. 

Section i. — State Credit not to be Given. — The credit of the State may 
not be given or loaned in aid of any individual, association or corporation. 

Section 2. — Power of the State to Contract Debts. — To meet casual def- 
icits or failures in revenue, the State may contract debts not to exceed at any 
one time one million dollars. Moneys so raised must be applied only to the 
purposes for which they were raised. 

Section 3. — State Debts to Repel Invasion. — The State may contract debts 



STATE CONSTITUTION 341 

to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in war ; but 
moneys raised for such purposes may be applied only to the purposes for 
which they were raised. 

Section 4. — Other State Debts. — No other State debt may be contracted 
except by law, and for some single work or object to be distinctly specified ; 
and the law must provide for the collection of an annual tax sufficient to pay 
the debt within eighteen years; and before taking effect, such law must be 
submitted to the people at a general election and be approved by a majority 
of the votes cast for and against it. 

Section 5. — Sinking Funds. — The sinking funds provided for the payment 
of State debts must be separately kept and invested, and used for no other 
purpose. 

Section 6. — Limitation of Claims. — No person or official acting in behalf 
of the State may allow or pay any claim against the State, which, as between 
citizens of the State, would be barred by lapse of time. 

Section 7. — Forest Preserve. — The State forest preserve must be forever 
kept as wild forest land, and may not be leased, sold, or exchanged, and the 
timber on the same may not be sold, removed or destroyed. 

Section 8. — Canals. — The Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Champlain 
Canal, the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, and the Black River Canal are to re- 
main the property of the State and under its management. 

Section 9. — No Tolls on Canals. — No tolls may be imposed upon persons 
or property transported on canals owned by the State. 

Section 10.— Canal Improvement. — The canals may be improved as the 
legislature may direct, the cost to be defrayed by an appropriation of funds 
from the State treasury, or by annual tax. 

ARTICLE VIII. — Corporations, Public Funds and Private Enter- 
prises. 

Section i. — Corporations, as a rule, are to be formed under general laws. 
Municipal corporations may be created by special act. 

Section 4. — Bank Charters. Restriction of Trustees. — No special charter 
for banking purposes may be granted by the legislature. No trustee of a 
savings bank may have any interest in the profits of such corporation. 

Section 5. — Specie Payment. — The legislature has no power to pass any 
law sanctioning the suspension of specie payments by any bank. 

Section 6. — Registry of Bills or Notes. — State bank bills must be regis- 
tered by the State, and the legislature must require ample security for their 
redemption in specie. 



342 APPENDIX 

Section 7. — Liability of Stockholders of Banks. — The stockholders of any 
bank are individually responsible to the amount of their respective shares, for 
all the bank's debts. 

Section 9. — Credit of the State not to be Given. — Neither the credit nor 
money of the State may be given or loaned in aid of any private enterprise. 

Section 10. — Cities and Towns not to Loan their Credit. Limitation of 
Indebtedness. — No county, city, town or village may give or loan its money 
or credit .in aid of any private enterprise or incur any debt except for munic- 
ipal purposes. No county or city may go into debt in excess of ten per cent, 
of the assessed valuation of its taxable real estate, except to provide a water 
supply. When the boundaries of a city and county are the same, or a city 
shall include within its boundaries more than one county, the power of such a 
county to go into debt ceases, but the existing county debt is not, for the pur- 
poses of this section, to be reckoned as a part of the city debt. No county 
containing a city of over 100,000 inhabitants, and no such city, may levy an 
annual tax of more than two per cent, of the assessed value of its taxable real 
and personal property, above what is necessary to provide for the principal 
and interest of its existing debt. 

Sections n and 12. — State Board of Charities. State Commission in 
Lunacy. State Commission of Prisons. — The legislature is to provide for a 
State board of charities to visit and inspect all charitable and reformatory in- 
stitutions in the State ; a State commission in lunacy to visit all insane 
asylums in the State ; and a State commission of prisons to visit prisons. 
Members are to be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and 
consent of the senate, and to be subject to removal by the governor. 

ARTICLE IX.— Education. 

Section i. — The legislature must provide a system of free common schools 
wherein all the children of the State may be educated. 

Section 2. — Regents of the University. — The regents of the University of 
New York are continued under tha name of The University of the State of 
New York. 

Section 3, — Common School, Literature, and United States Deposit Funds. 
— The capital of each of these funds must be preserved inviolate. The reve- 
nue of the common school fund is to be applied to the support of the common 
schools, the revenue of the literature fund to the support of the academies, 
and $25,000 of the United States deposit fund is to be each year appropriated 
to and made a part of the capital of the common school fund. 

Section 4. — Neither the State nor any municipality may aid in the main- 
tenance of any school or institution of learning wholly or in part under the 



STATE CONSTITUTION 343 

control or direction of any religious denomination, or in which any denomina- 
tional tenet or doctrine is taught. 

ARTICLE X.— Public Officers. 

Section i. — Sheriffs, District Attorneys, County Clerks, and Registers. — 
These officers are to be chosen in their respective counties once in three 
years, except in New York and Kings counties, and in counties whose bound- 
aries are the same as a city, when they are to be chosen once in two or four 
years, as the legislature may elect. Sheriffs are ineligible for the next suc- 
ceeding term. The governor may remove any of these officers for cause. 

Section 6. — The Political Year. — The political year and the legislative 
term begin on the first day of January. The legislature must assemble on 
the first Wednesday in January. 

Section 9. — Compensation of Officers. — No officer whose salary is fixed 
by the constitution may receive additional compensation. Each of the other 
officers named in the constitution is to receive a salary fixed by law, which 
may not be increased or diminished during his term of office. 

ARTICLE XL— The Militia. 

Section i. — The State Militia. — All able-bodied citizens, not exempt by 
law, who are between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, and residents of the 
State, constitute the militia. 

Section 3. — Organization. — The legislature is to organize the militia and 
to divide it into land and naval forces; and there must be maintained at all 
times a force of not less than 10,000 men fully uniformed, armed, equipped, 
disciplined, and ready for active service. 

Section 4. — Appointments by Governor. — The governor is to appoint the 
chiefs of all staff departments, his aids-de-camp, and military secretary, whose 
commissions expire with his term. He also appoints by and with the advice 
and consent of the senate, the major generals. 

Section 6. — Removals from Office. — Commissioned officers may be re- 
moved for cause by the senate, on recommendation of the governor, or by 
sentence of a court-martial, or by the findings of an examining board. 

ARTICLE XII.— Cities. 

Section i. — Organization. — It is the duty of the legislature to provide for 
the organization of cities and villages, and to restrict their power of taxation 
and of contracting debt. 



344 APPENDIX 

Section 2. — Classification of Cities. Special City Laws. — Cities of the 
first class have a population of 250,000 and over, of the second class a popu- 
lation between 50,000 and 250,000, cities of the third class include all others. 
When a proposed law applying to a particular city has passed both houses of 
the legislature it must be sent to the mayor of the city, who must return it 
within fifteen days to the legislature, if in session, or to the governor, if the 
legislature be not in session, stating whether or not the city accepts the pro- 
posed law. If accepted, the proposed law is subject to the action of the gov- 
ernor as in case of other bills. If rejected or not returned within fifteen 
days, and the legislature be still in session, the bill may be repassed by both 
branches of the legislature, when it is subject to the action of the governor, as 
in case of other bills. 

Section 3. — Election of City Officers. — City officers in cities of the first 
and second classes including supervisors, and judicial officers of inferior local 
courts, and county officers elected in New York and Kings counties, and 
county officers in all counties whose boundaries are the same as those of a 
city, are to be elected on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in Novem- 
ber in an odd-numbered year, and the term of every such officer is to expire 
at the end of an odd-numbered year. 

ARTICLE XIII. — Oath of Office. Provisions Against Bribery and 

Corruption. 

Section i. — Oath of Office. — Members of the legislature, and all officers 
executive and judicial, except such inferior officers as the law exempts, must, 
before they enter upon the duties of office take the following oath : »« I do 
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United 
States, and the constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faith- 
fully discharge the duties of the office of . . . according to the best 
of my ability." And all such officers chosen at any election must take the 
following in addition : " And I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
have not directly or indirectly paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, 
or offered or promised to contribute any money, or other valuable thing as a 
consideration or reward for the giving or withholding a vote at the election 
at which I was elected to said office, and have not made any promise to in- 
fluence the giving or withholding any such vote." 

Sections 2 and 3. — Official Bribery and Corruption. — Any person holding 
office under the laws of the State, who accepts a bribe for performing or omit- 
ting to perform any official act, is guilty of a felony. The person who offers 
the bribe is also guilty of a felony. 



STATE CONSTITUTION 345 

Section 5. — Passes and Franking Privileges Prohibited.— No public officer 
may ask or receive for himself or for another any free pass, free transporta- 
tion, franking privilege or discrimination in passenger, telegraph, or tele- 
phone rates. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor both for the party 
receiving and the party granting the pass, privilege, or discrimination. 

Section 6. — Removal of District Attorney. — A district attorney failing to 
faithfully prosecute a person charged with violation in his county of any pro- 
vision of this article may be removed from office by the governor. 

ARTICLE XIV. — Amending the Constitution. 

Section i. — Amendments, How Made. — An amendment to the constitution 
may be proposed in either house of the legislature, and must be passed by a 
majority of the members elected to each house, and then referred to the legis- 
lature chosen at the next general election of senators, in which legislature the 
proposed amendment must again pass both houses as before. The proposed 
amendment is to be then submitted to the voters of the State for adoption or re- 
jection. If a majority of the voters voting on the proposed amendment 
approve it, it becomes a part of the constitution. 

Section 2. — Revision of the Constitution by Convention. — In 1916 and every 
twentieth year thereafter, and also at such times as the legislature may pro- 
vide, there is to be submitted to the voters the question : " Shall there be a 
convention to revise the constitution and amend the same ? " If a majority 
voting decide in favor of the proposed convention, the voters of every senate 
district are to elect three delegates and the voters of the State fifteen dele- 
gates-at-large to such a convention. Any proposed constitution or constitu- 
tional amendment adopted by such convention must be submitted to the 
voters of the State and adopted or rejected by majority vote. 
Hoxie s N. V. — 22 



PUBLIC OFFICERS, MODE OF APPOINTMENT, TERM OF 
OFFICE AND SALARIES 



Officers. 

President. 

Vice President. 

Sec'y of State. 

Sec'y of the Treas 

Sec'y of War. 

Attorney-General. 

Postmaster-General. 

Sec'y of the Navy. 

Sec'y of the Inter'r. 

Sec'y of Agricult'r. 

Civil Service Corn's. 

Com. of Labor. 

Interstate Com. Corn's. 

Librarian of Cong. 

Supreme Court Judges. 

Circuit Court Judges. 

District Court Judges. 

Judges Court of Claims. 

Ambassadors. 

Ministers. 

Consuls. 

United States Senators. 

Representatives in Cong. 



United States Officers. 

Mode of Appointment. Term of Office. Salary. 

Elected by people. 

Elected by people. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

App. by Pres. and Sen. 

Elected by State Leg. 

Elected by people. 



4 years. 


$ 50,000. 


4 years. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,ooo. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


8,000. 


Will of Pres. 


3>5oo. 


Will of Pres. 


5,000. 


Will of Pres. 


7,500. 


Will of Pres. 


5,000. 


Dur. good behavior. 


10,000. 


Dur. good behavior. 


6,000. 


Dur. good behavior. 


4,000. 


Dur. good behavior. 


4.5oo. 


Will of Pres. 


17.500. 


Will of Pres. 


5,000 to 12.000. 


Will of Pres. 


1,500 to 5.000. ' 


6 years. 


5,000. 


2 years. 


5,000. 



Governor. 

Lieutenant Governor. 
Secretary of State. 
Comptroller. 
Treasurer. 
Attorney-General. 
State Eng and Surv. 
Sup't. Public Works. 
Sup't of Banks. 
Sup't. of Insurance. 



New York State Officers. 

Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 



2 years. 


$10,000. 


2 years. 


5,000. 


2 years. 


5,000. 


2 years. 


6,000. 


2 years. 


5,000. 


2 years. 


5,000. 


2 years. 


5,000. 


Coin, with Coy. 


6,000. 


3 years. 


5,000. 


3 years. 


7,000. 



'Sometimes paid in fees for services preformed. 



347 



348 



APPENDIX 



Officers. 
Adjutant General. 
Sup't Public Build. 

State Tax Corn's. 
Commissioner of Excise. 
State Com. of Health. 
Insp. of Gas Meters. 
State Historian. 
Railroad Corn's. 
Judges Court of Claims. 
Civil Service Corn's. 
Commissioner of Labor. 
State Agr'l Corn's. 
State Sup't Elections. 
Quarantine Corn's. 
Port Wardens. 
Health OPc'r P't N. Y. 
Regents of University. 
Sup't Public Instruct'n. 
For. Fish and Game Corn's 
Sup't State Prisons. 
Corn's of Charities. 
Corn's in Lunacy. 
State Senators. 
Assemblymen. 
Judges Court of Appeals, 
Supreme Court Judges. 



Mode of Appointment. 
App. by Governor. 
App. by Gov. .Lieut. Gov. 

and Speaker. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
By the Legislature. 
By the Legislature. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov, and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
App. by Gov. and Sen. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 



Term of Office. 


Salary. 


Coin, with Gov. 


$4,cco. 


2 years. 


S,oco. 


3 years. 


5,ooo. 


5 years. 


5,000. 


4 years. 


3.5CO. 


5 years. 


5,000. 


Will of Gov. 


5,000. 


5 years. 


8,ooo. 


6 years. 


5,000. 


Not denned. 


3,000. 


4 years. 


3.5oo. 


3 years. 


4,000. 


4 years. 


5,000. 


3 years. 


2,500. 


3 years. 


Fees. 


4 years. 


12,500. 


For life. 


None. 


3 years. 


5,000. 


4 years. 


5,000. 


5 years. 


6,000. 


8 years. 




6 years. 


3.500 to 7,500. 


2 years. 


I.500. 1 


i year. 


1,500. l 


14 years. 


13,700.^ 


14 years. 


7,200. 3 



New York City Officers. 



Mayor. 


Elected by people. 


2 years. Jj 


5 15,000. 


Comptroller. 


Elected by people. 


2 years. 


15,000. 


Chamberlain. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


12,000. 


Corporation Counsel. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


15,000. 


Police Commissioner. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


5 years. 


7,5oo. 


Borough Presidents. 


El. by peo. of bor. 




5,000 to 7,500. 


Com. of Wat. Sup. Gas 
and Elect'y. 


y Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


7,50o. 


Com. Street Cleaning. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


7,5co. 


Com. of Bridges. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


7,500. 


Corn's of Parks. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


5,000. 


Com'r of Pub. Charities, 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


7.500. 


Com. of Correction. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


7,500. 


Fire Commissioner. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


7,5oo. 


Com'r of Docks. 


Appointed by Mayor. 


Pleasure of Mayor. 


6,000. 


. 1 And mileage. 




2 Chief Justice $14,200. 





$17,500 in New York County. $13,200 in Kings. 



PUBLIC OFFICERS 



349 



Officers. 
Pres. B'd Taxes and Ass. 
Members B'd Education. 
Com'r of Health. 
Tenement House Com'r. 
City Judge. 
Recorder. 

Judges Court Gen. Ses. 
Judges City Court. 
Judges Municipal Court. 
City Magistrates. 
Aldermen. 

City Clerk. 



Sheriff. Elected by people 

County Judge. Elected by people. 

Surrogate Elected by people. 

County Clerk Elected by people. 

Treasurer. Elected by people. 

District Attorney. Elected by people. 

Coroners Elected by people. 

Sup't of Poor. Elected by people. 

School Commissioner. Elected by people. 



Mode of Appointment. 


Term of 


Office. 


Salary 


Appointed by Mayor. 




Pleasure of Mayor. 


8,000. 


Appointed by Mayor. 




5 years. 




None. 


Appointed by Mayor. 




Pleasure of Mayor. 


7,500. 


Appointed by Mayor. 








7. 5co. 


Elected by people. 




14 years. 




12,000. 


Elected by people. 




14 years. 




I2,000. 


Elected by people. 




14 years. 




12,000. 


Elected by people. 




10 years. 




io,coo. 


Elected by people. 




10 years. 




6,000. ' 


Appointed by Mayor.' 




10 years. 




7,000. 


Elected by people. 




2 years. 




1,000. 


Appointed by Board 
Aldermen. 


of 


{ 6 years. 




7,000. 


Local Officers 


{County). 







3 years. Fees. 3 

6 years. Fixed by Legislature. 
6 years. 4 Varies in different counties. 
3 years. Fees. 6 

3 years. Fixed byboard of supervisors. 
3 years. Fixed byboard of supervisors. 
3 years. Fees. 

3 years. By the day, or Salary. 



3 years. 



1,000. 



Supervisor. 

Town Clerk. 

Justice of the Peace. 

Assessor. 

Highway Commissioner. 

Overseer of Poor. 

Collector. 

Constables. 

Inspectors of Elect'n. 



Local Officers {Town). 

Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 
Elected by people. 



2 years. 


By the day. 


2 years. 


Fees. 


4 years 


Fees. 


2 years. 


Percentage. 


2 years. 


By the day. 


2 years. 


By the day. 


2 years. 


Percentage. 


2 years. 


Fees. 


2 years. 


By the day. 



ix years each at salaries of 



1 $5,000 in Queens and Richmond. 

1 Elected in Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond for term of 
$6,000 in Brooklyn and $5,000 in Queens and Richmond. 
3 And percentage of money collected on executions. 
• Fourteen in New York county. 
•Salary in some counties fixed by legislature. 
6 May be increased by supervisors ; also $300 for expenses. 



Topics in Civics Outlined in the Regents Syllabus 

( Figures in parentheses refer to pages in this book. ) 



I. Local government. Its paramount importance (29, 30). 

The town. Its antiquity (16-21) ; the clan (16), the tun (17, 18), the mark 
(16, 17); development in England (16-20); transference to America 
(20, 21) ; the town considered both as a unit and as a part of a greater po- 
litical division (29, 30, 76, 77) ; vital importance of the principle of repre- 
sentation (135, 136). 

The county. Its historical development on English soil (73-75) ; the 
tribe (73), the shire (73, 74) ; transition to America (75) ; form assumed in 
New York State (75-82). 

The city. Origin of English boroughs and cities (42, 43) ; government of 
English cities (43); government of American cities (40, 41, 44-49). 

II. State and federal government. 

The State. The written constitution (103-111); its birth on American 
soil (106, 107); germs of the idea (104-106); progress in other countries 
(106, 114); colonial governments (106, 107); transition to State govern- 
ments (107, 108). 

Relations of State to federal government (85, 86, 238-242, 252, 253, 256, 
257), formation of new States (251), origin of the State government of New 
York (94-101); present constitution of New York (329-345), how estab- 
lished (103, 108, 109), its provisions (114-121); citizenship (125-127) ; suf- 
frage (125-129); qualified voters (125, 126); classes excluded from voting 
(127); the division of the State into counties (70, 75), towns (8, 9), cities 
(40, 41, 44, 45), villages (33-39), and subordinate districts (140, 143, 182, 
190, 192, 203, 217, 218). 

The executive officers of the State (153-162), their qualifications (153-162), 
duties (153-162J, tenure of office and mode of choice (153-162), viz, the 
governor (154, 155), lieutenant-governor (155, 156), and other State officers 
(156-163) ; the officers of a county (78-82) ; the officers of a town (23-28); 
the officers of a city (45-49), and of a village (35-37). 

351 



352 TOPICS IN CIVICS OUTLINED 

The State legislature (133-135), how constituted and elected (140-144); 
manner of enacting laws (144-147) ; the powers of the legislature (147, 
148) and the limitations thereof (104, 147, 148, 179, 180, 209, 210, 240, 241, 
256) ; the veto power of the governor (147). 

Courts of the State of New York (179-186); judges and prosecuting 
officers (179-186, 79, 157); attorneys and counselors (173) ; the manner of 
proceeding in civil (178, 179) and criminal cases (166-176). 

Taxes, their assessment and collection (201-207) ; expenditures for com- 
pensation of officers (201, 347-349); for education (193— 195, 197, 199); for 
the support of institutions for the unfortunate and criminal classes (26, 38, 
40, 62, 80, 201) ; for canals, railways and other internal improvements (7, 8, 
10, 15, 25, 38, 46, 162, 211); for the maintenance of military and police or- 
ganizations (159, 201). 

The school system of New York State (189-197) ; the Regents of the 
University (198, 199); the Superintendent of public instruction (190) ; other 
school officers (191-195). 

The nation. Origin of the union of States composing the United States 
(224-234); articles of confederation (229-232); the present constitution 
(233, 234, 240, 317-327), its original provisions (242-253) and its subse- 
quent amendments (254-256) ; the nature of the union and the question of 
secession (238-242) ; citizenship and naturalization (125-127). 

Executive branch of the government (269) ; qualifications, duties, mode of 
choice and tenure of office of the president and vice-president (269-275) ; 
the organization and administration of the several departments (272-275), 
viz, of state (272), of the treasury (273), of the interior (273, 274), of war 
(273), of the navy (273), of the post office (274), of justice (277-281), and 
of agriculture (274) ; officers of these departments, their qualifications, 
duties, tenure of office and mode of appointment (272-274); the organization 
and command of the army and of the navy (244, 245, 270, 271, 273). 

Legislative branch of the government (261-268); the senate and the 
choice of senators (262, 263) ; the house of representatives and the election 
of members (263, 264) ; meetings and organization of congress (261, 264, 
265); mode of enacting laws (265-268) ; limitations to the powers of con- 
gress (253-255, 269) ; power of congress to impose taxes (245), to regulate 
commerce (246), to govern the public territory (249-251), to declare war 
(244), and other powers (242-249). 

Judicial branch of the government (277); the system of United States 
courts and their jurisdiction (277-280) ; the relation of State and national 
courts (280) ; judges and prosecuting officers, their qualifications, duties, 
tenure of office and mode of appointment (277-281). 



TOPICS IX CIVICS OUTLINED 



353 



III. International relations. Treaties (288) ; tariffs (245, 246, 280, 290) ; 
relations to travelers (298), diplomatic and consular officials (287, 288), fugi- 
tive criminals (289) ; relations of neutral governments in time of war 
(291-296). 

IV. Principles and forms of government. The theories as to the origin 
of government (297-299) ; the rights of man under government (297-299) ; 
the different forms of government as illustrated in former and existing na- 
tions of earth (297-299) ; the relative advantage and defects of the several 
forms of government, and in particular that of the United States (297-299). 

V. Laws relating to American citizens. Sources of the laws affecting 
the American citizen (113-115); his rights to liberty, protection and prop- 
erty (115-121). 

Laws as to persons (307-309) ; distinction between a citizen and an alien 
( 125-127); marriage and the rights and duties of the parties (308); parents 
and children (309) ; master and servant (307). 

Laws as to property (303-314); title and transfer of real estate (309-313); 
appurtenances of real estate (311, 312); landlord and tenant (31 1) ; mort- 
gages (310, 311), promissory notes, indorsements and interest (313, 314). 

Wills and the distribution of property after death, gifts and bequests (312). 

Contracts (304-314); general obligation of contracts (304); when not 
binding (304, 305) ; remedy for broken contracts (305) ; contract to sell or 
exchange (305) ; contract to let or lease (305). 

Crimes and their punishment (166-176); criminal tribunals (168-174); 
rights of an accused man (167-169). 



Index 



Accused persons, rights of, 118, 119, 

167, 168, 172, 325, 329. 
Administrative departments of city of 

New York, 61. 
.-Eldorman, 74. 
Agent, 307. 

Agricultural land, leases of, 330. 
Agriculture, department of, 274, 275. 
Agriculture, State Commissioner of, 

162. 
Aldermen, board of, 45, 58. 
Aliens, defined, 126. 
Ambassadors, 287, 288. 
Amending constitution, 257. 
Amendments, constitutional, 324, 345. 
Amendments to United States Consti- 
tution, 325. 
Annapolis convention, 233. 
Anti-trust law, 247. 
Appeals, 175, 181, 183, 184. 
Appeals, court of, 184, 339. 
Appellate division, supreme court, 

183. 
Apportionment of representatives, 327. 
Appropriation bills, 335, 336. 
Appurtenances, 311, 312. 
Arbitrary power, provisions against, 

115, 1 16. 
Arbitration, 294. 
Arbitration and mediation, State board 

of, 162. 
Arbitration, international court of, 295. 



Aristocracy, 298. 

Arms, right to bear, 255. 

Arraignment, 172. 

Arrest by " hue and cry," 166. 

Arrest, by warrant, 166. 

Articles of confederation, 227-233, 238, 
239- 

Assembly districts, 140, 141, 143. 

Assembly, first provincial, 96, 97. 

Assemblymen, 331, ^3> 334- 

Assemblymen, ratio for apportioning, 
141, 145. 

Assembly of 1653, 96. 

Assembly, provincial, refuses to vote 
taxes, 99, 100. 

Assembly, right of, 325. 

Assembly, State, 134, 141, 143. 

Assessment roll, 204, 205. 

Assessors, city, 47, 204, 205. 

Assessors, State, see Tax Commis- 
sioners. 

Assessors, town, 27, 204, 205. 

Attainder, bill of, not to be passed, 

253» 3 21 - 
Attorney, city, 47. 

Attorney-general, State, 156, 157, 158. 
Attorney-general, United States, 274. 
Australian system of voting, 220. 

Bail, excessive, prohibited, 325. 
Bail, provisions against excessive, 118. 
Bail, right of, 118, 119, 167, 168. 
355 



356 



INDEX 



Ballot, voting by, at town meeting, 

Ballot clerks, 218. 

Ballots, counting of, 220, 221. 

Ballots, marking of, 220. 

Ballots, official, 218, 219. 

Bank notes, 208, 209. 

Bankruptcy, 247. 

Banks, national, 209. 

Banks, State, 208, 341, 342. 

Banks, State superintendent of, 158, 

161, 208. 
Belligerency, recognition of, 296, 297. 
Belligerents, 290. 
Bet, effects of, on the right to vote, 

128. 
Bill, first reading of, 144. 
Bill, second reading of, 145. 
Bill, third reading of, 145. 
"Bill of Rights," 109, 114. 
Bill of Rights, the English, 1 14. 
Bills, appropriating public money, 146. 
Bills, governor's action on, 147. 
Bills, how passed, 147, 267, 268, 319, 

335- 
Bills, private and local prohibited, 335. 
Blockades, 293. 
Board of aldermen, 45, 46. 
Bonds, United States, 209, 245, 246. 
Borough officers, city of New York, 63. 
Boroughs, in city of New York, 55. 
Boroughs, origin of English, 42. 
Bribery, provisions against, 221, 222, 

344, 345- 
Bronx, borough of, 55. 
Brooklyn, borough of, 55. 
" Burghers," 43. 
Burgomasters, 96, 97. 
By-laws, town, 10. 
By-laws, village, 34. 



Cabinet, president's, 272-275. 

Canal board, 338. 

Canal fund, commissioners of, 338. 

Canals, 341. 

Canals to be free, 211. 

Canvassers, county board of, 220, 221. 

Canvassers, State board of, 221. 

Capital offense, 168. 

Census, State, 140, 333. 

Census, United States, 263, 274, 317. 

Chamberlain, city of New York, 62. 

Charge, judge's, 174. 

Charities, State board of, 163, 342. 

Charter, city, 41. 

" Charter of Liberties and Privileges," 

98. 
Charter, village, 35. 
Charters, ancient, 41. 
Charters, colonial, 106, 107. 
Chattel mortgage, 311. 
Cities, classified, 44, 45, 344. 
Cities of the second class, government 

in, 48, 49. 
Cities, special laws effecting, 47, 48, 

344- 
Citizens, privileges and immunities of, 

3 2 3, 3 2 7- 
Citizens, State, 326. 
Citizens, United States, 326. 
Citizens, who are, 125, 127. 
City attorney, 47. 
City charter, 41. 

City court in the city o£ New York, 67. 
City courts, 47, 49. 
City, defined, 41. 

City government in Netherlands, 43. 
City indebtedness, limitation of, 48, 
City magistrates in city of New York, 

68. 
City marshals, 49. 



INDEX 



357 



City officers, 47, 349. 

City of New York, aldermen in, 5S. 

City of New York, assemblymen in, 

55- 
Citv of New York, board of education, 

65- 
City of New York, board of estimate 

and apportionment, 62. 
City of New York, boards of local im- 
provements, 63. 
City of New York, borough officers, 

63. 
City of New York, boroughs of, 55. 
City of New York, chamberlain of, 

62. 
City of New York, city court in, 67. 
City of New York, comptroller. 61. 
City of New York, corporation council 

of, 62. 
City of New York, counties in, 54. 
City of New York, county government 

in, 65. 
City of New York, court of general 

sessions in, 66. 
City of New York, court of special 

sessions in, 67. 
City of New York, courts in, 66, 67, 

68. 
City of New York, department of 

finance, 61. 
City of New York, districts of local 

improvement, 63. 
City of New York, health department, 

65. 
City of New York, law department, 

62. 
City of New York, magistrates in, 67. 
City of New York, mayor, 60, 61. 
City of New York, municipal court of, 

68. 



City of New York, municipal depart- 
ments, 58-66. 
City of New York, police department, 

63. 
City of New York, recorder in, 67. 
City of New York, representation in 

Assembly, 143. 
City of New York, representation of, in 

State senate, 141. 
City of New York, schools, 65. 
City of New York, senators in, 55. 
City of New York, superintendent of 

schools, 65. 
City of New York, treasurer of, 62. 
City treasurer, 47. 
Civil and political rights, 121. 
Civil service commissioners, city, 47, 

160. 
Civil service commissioners, State, 158, 

160. 
Civil service law, 46, 47, 160, 338. 
Civil service, State, 159, 160. 
Civil service, United States, 272. 
Civil suits at law, 178. 
Claims, court of, 187, 281. 
Clan, 16. 
Codicil, 312. 
Collector, city, 47. 
Collector, town, 27. 
Colonial union, beginnings of, 225. 
Combatants, 290. 
Commerce, Congress may regulate, 

320. 
Commerce, interstate, 246, 247. 
Commerce, power to regulate, 246. 
Commissioner of jurors, 80. 
Committees of Congress, 266, 267. 
Committees of the legislature, 144, 

145, 146. 
Common carrier, 306. 



358 



INDEX 



Common council, 45. 

Common law, 121, 304, 330. 

Common school fund, 194. 

Commonwealth, the English, 89. 

Compensation of officers, 343. 

Complaint, 178. 

Comptroller of the city of New York, 

61. 
Comptroller, State, 156, 157, 161. 
Compulsory attendance law, 196, 

197. 
Concurrent powers, 242. 
Confederate States of America, 239. 
Confederation, 229, 230. 
Congress, 261, 317. 
Congress, Adjournment of, 319. 
Congress, committees of, 266, 267, 
Congress, meetings of, 261, 264, 266, 

318. 
Congress, powers of, 242, 252, 268, 

3 J 9. 3 2 °- 
Congress, power under Articles of 

Confederation, 238, 239. 
Congress, quorum in, 318. 
Congressional Districts, 264. 
Congressmen, compensation of, 319. 
Congressmen, election of, 318. 
Congressmen, privileges of, 269, 319. 
Congressmen, qualifications of, 318. 
Congressmen, salaries of, 266. 
Conscience, freedom of, 117. 
Constable, town, 26, 181. 
Constitution, English, 105. 
Constitution, how amended, 324. 
Constitution, officers must swear to 

support, 324. 
Constitution of the Dutch republic, 

106. 
Constitution of the United States, the 

supreme law, 240. 



Constitution, State, 100, 103, 104, 108, 

109, no. 
Constitution, State, how amended, 108, 

109, no, 345. 
Constitution, State, the Preamble, 

US- 
Constitution, the supreme law, 324. 
Constitution, United States, 317. 
Constitution, United States, how 

amended, 257. 
Constitution, written, beginnings of, 

104, 105, 106. 
Constitutional convention, 137. 
Constitutional convention, United 

States, 233, 234, 235. 
Constitutionality of statutes, 179, 18c. 
Consuls, 287, 288. 
Continental Congress, first, 226. 
Continental Congress, second, 227. 
Continental Congress, the beginning 

of national government, 227, 228. 
Contraband of war, 292. 
Contracts, 304, 305, 310. 
Copyrights, 249. 
Coroner, 81, 184, 185. 
Coroner's inquests, 184. 
Coroner's jury, 81, 184. 
Corporation counsel, 47. 
Corporation counsel, city of New York, 

62. 
Corporations, 208, 341. 
Counterfeiting, Congress may provide 

for punishment of, 320. 
Counties, how divided into assembly 

districts, 143. 
Counties in New York, 70, 75. 
County, 75, 77. 

County board of supervisors, 76. 
County canvassers, board of, 220, 

221. 



J.XDEX 



359 



County clerk, ;S, So. 

County court, So. 

County courts, 340. 

County courts in the city of New York, 

66. 
County executive officers, 78. 
County government, why we have, 70. 
County indebtedness, limitation of, 48. 
County judge, 80, 81. 
County officers, when chosen, 343. 
County, relations to State, 76. 
County superintendent of poor, 78, 

So. 
County treasurer, 78, 79, 80. 
Court, coroner's, 184, 185. 
Court, county, 80, 181. 
Court for the trial of impeachment, 149, 

185, 187. 
Court of appeals, 184, 339. 
Court of claims, 187, 281. 
Court of general sessions in city of 

New York, 66. 
Court of special sessions, 66, 67, 180. 
Court, supreme, 182, 183, 184, 279, 

280. 
Court, surrogate's, 81, 184, 185. 
Court, village police, 37, 38. 
Courtesy, estate by, 313. 
Courts, as interpreters of law, 179. 
Courts, city, 47, 49. 
Courts, district, United States, 278. 
Courts, enumerated, 180. 
Courts, inferior local, 340. 
Courts in the city of New York, 66, 

67, 68. 
Courts, justice's, 180. 
Courts of record and not of record, 

185. 
Courts, removal of cases from State to 

United States, 280. 



Courts, State, 33S, 340. 

Courts, United States, 323. 

Courts, United States circuit, 278, 279. 

Courts, United States, enumerated, 277- 
281. 

Courts, United States, jurisdiction of, 
277. 

Credit, public, not to be loaned, 342. 

Credit, State, not to be given, 340, 
342. 

Crime, infamous, 168. 

Criminals, rights of, 121, 122, 167, 168. 

Cruel and unusual punishments, pro- 
visions against, 1 18. 

Customs, taxes, 202. 

Debate, freedom of, 335. 

Debt, city, limitation of, 48. 

Debt, county, limitation of, 48. 

Debts of cities and counties, 342. 

Debts, State, 340, 341. 

Declaration of independence, 228. 

Declaration of Rights, the, 114. 

Deed, 309, 310. 

Defendant, 178. 

Democracy, 298. 

Democratic government, direct and 

representative, II. 
Departments of government, 28, 131, 

132, 261. 
Departments of government, United 

States, 261. 
Despotism, 297. 
Diplomatic officers, 287. 
Direct democratic government, 10. 
District of Columbia, 249. 
District attorney, 78, 79. 
District attorneys, United States, 274, 

280. 
Divorces, 330. 



3 6o 



INDEX 



Dower, 308. 

" Due process of law," 119, 175. 

Duke of York, 99. 

" Duke's Laws," the, 98. 

Dutch, the, 87, 88, 89. 

Education, board of, city of New 

York, 65. 
Education, public, 342. 
Education, United States bureau of, 

274. 
Election boards to be bi-partisan, 331. 
Election districts, 218. 
Election, general State, 218. 
Election, inspectors of, 27. 
Election officers, 218. 
Elections, conduct of, 214. 
Elections, village special, 38. 
Electors, presidential, 321, 326. 
Embargoes, 289, 290. 
Eminent domain, right of, 1 19. 
Employer and employee, 307. 
Enabling act, 251. 
Engineer and surveyor, State, 156, 

158. 
Enrollment, party, 215, 216. 
Equalization, county board of, 205. 
Equalization, State board of, 161, 206, 

207. 
Erie county, representation in State 

senate, 141. 
Escheats, 330. 
Estates, 312, 313. 
Estimate and apportionment, board 

of, city of New York, 62. 
Excise taxes, 245. 
Excessive bail and fines, prohibited, 

255, 256. 
Executive department, 29, 131, 132, 

153, 269. 



Executive officers, State, 337. 
Exports not to be taxed, 321. 
Ex post facto law, not to be passed, 

Extradition, 257, 289, 323, 324. 

Farmers' Institutes, 162. 

Federal government, definition of, 230. 

Federal places, United States control 
of, 249. 

Fee simple, 313. 

Fees, judges not to take, 187. 

Felony, 172. 

Finance department, city of New 
York, 61. 

Fines, provisions against excessive, 
118. 

Fisheries, game and forest commis- 
sioners, 162. 

Forbidden powers, 253, 254, 255, 256. 

Foreign relations, 243, 271. 

Forest preserve, 210, 341. 

Forests, protection of, 162, 210. 

Freedom of conscience, guaranteed, 
117. 

Freedom of speech, 120, 148, 149, 325, 

330. 
Free speech, 254. 
French, the, 90. 
Fulton and Hamilton counties to have 

one assemblyman, 141. 

Ga, German, 73, 74. 

Gambling prohibited, 330. 

Game, protection of, 162. 

Gau, German, 73, 74. 

Gold certificates, 248. 

Government, division of its powers, 

241. 
Governments, equality of, 297. 



INDEX 



361 



Governments, origin of, 299, 300. 

Governor, 336, 337. 

Governor, powers of, 153, 151, 155, 

158, 159. 
Governor, qualifications of, 156. 
Governor, salary of, 154. 
Governor, when president of senate, 

may act as, 156. 
Governor, when speaker, may act as, 

156. 
Governors, New York's early, 154. 
Governor's veto, 147, 154. 
Governor, legislative powers of, 147. 
Grand jury, 169, 170, 255. 
Greenbacks, 248, 249. 
Guardian, 309. 
Guilds, 43. 

Habeas Corpus, 329. 

Habeas Corpus, not to be suspended, 

253.32I- 
Habeas Corpus, writ of, 118. 
Hague conference and treaty, 294, 296. 
Health department, city of New York, 

65. 
Health, State board of, 163. 
Health, village board of, 37. 
" Het Groote Priviligie," 106. 
High seas, control over, 243. 
Highway commissioners, 25. 
" Hue and cry," arrest by, 166. 
Huguenots, the, 90. 
Hundred, the, 26, 73, 74. 
Husband and wife, 308. 

Impeachment, court for the trial of, 

149, 1S5, 186, 276, 318, 323, 339. 
Impost duties, State, 247. 
Independence, declaration of, 228. 
Indians, 274. 

H ixie's N. Y. — 23 



Indictment, bill of, 169. 

Indorser, 313, 314. 

Initiative and referendum, 136. 

Inspectors of election, 27. 

Insurance, contract for, 306, 307. 

Insurance, State superintendent of, 158, 

161. 
Interior, department of, 273, 274. 
Interior, secretary of the, 272, 273. 
Internal revenue, 202, 245. 
International law, 286, 287. 
Interstate Commerce Commission, 247. 
Impeachment, court of, United States, 

276. 
Impeachment of State officers, 149, 

339- 
Impeachment of United States officers, 
276, 318, 323. 

James II., 99. 

Joint stock companies, 308. 

Judges, age of, 187. 

Judges, appointment and term of office 

of, 339- 
Judges, not to receive fees, 340. 
Judges of the supreme court, 182, 183. 
Judges, removal of, 339. 
Judges, United States, 323. 
Judicial departments, State, 182, 338, 

339- 
Judicial districts, State, 182. 
Judiciary department, 29, 166, 178. 
Judiciary department, United States 

277. 
Jurors, commissioner of, 80. 
Jury, coroner's, 81, 184, 185 
Jury, grand, 169, 170. 
Jury, in United States courts, 280, 281. 
Jury, justice's, 181. 
Jury, petit, 172, 173. 



362 



INDEX 



Jury, trial, 172, 173. 
Jury, trial by, 172, 173. 
Jury trial guaranteed, 116. 
Jury trial in United States courts, 323. 
Jury trial, right to, 255, 325, 329. 
Justice of the peace, 27, 180. 
Justice of the peace, origin of, 28. 
Justices of the peace, 340. 
Justice, United States department of, 
274. 

Labor, State commissioner of, 162. 
Labor, United States department of, 

274. 
Land office, commissioners of, 338. 
Land, rights in, 120. 
"Law of the land, the," 116, 119. 
Law, sources of State, 303, 304. 
Laws of United States, how made, 266. 
Laws, State, how made, 144, 145, 146, 

147. 
Lease, 3 II. 

Lease, contract of, 305. 
Legislative department, 29, 13 1, 132, 

133- . 
Legislators, compensation of, 134. 
Legislators, qualifications of, 143, 334. 
Legislature, 331. 
Legislature, committees of, 144, 145, 

146. 
Legislature, meeting of, 343. 
Legislature, State, authority of, 133, 

! 35- 

Legislature, State, development of, 

J 33- 

Legislature, State, freedom of speech 
in, 148, 149. 

Legislature, State, "houses," 133, 136. 

Legislature, State, may not enact pri- 
vate or local laws, 148. 



Legislature, State, meets, 133. 
Legislature, State, members, 133. 
Legislature, State, powers of, 147, 148, 

149, ISO- 
Legislature, why two "houses," 135, 

136. 
Legislatures, misrepresentation of, 136. 
Lieutenant governor, 155, 156, 336. 
Limitation of claims, 341. 
Limitations, statute of, 305. 
Literature fund, 195. 
Local government, importance of, 

29. 
Local laws, enactment forbidden, 

148. 

Magna Charta, 104, 105, 115, 116, 

118, 119, 175. 
Majority, 221. 
Manhattan, borough of, 55. 
Manor, 19. 
Manor, courts of, 20. 
Marque and reprisal, 244, 293. 
Mark, 16. 

Marriage, contract of, 308. 
Marshals, city, 49. 
Marshals, United States, 280. 
Mayor, 46. 
Mayor of city of New York, 60, 

61. 
Mayor, powers of, 46, 47. 
Mayor's veto, 46. 
Militia, State, 159, 343. 
Militia, United States, 244, 245, 320. 
Ministers, 287, 288. 
Minister resident, 287. 
Mints, United States, 248. 
Misdemeanor, 172. 
Monarchy, 297, 298. 
" Money " bills, 146. 



INDEX 



363 



Money, Congress may regulate value 
of, 320. 

Money, power to coin, 248. 

Money, United States, 248. 

Monroe Doctrine and Hague Confer- 
ence, 296. 

Mortgage, 310, 311. 

Municipal corporation, defined, 9. 

Municipal court of the city of New 
York, 68. 

Mutual Aid Associations, 308. 

X antes, Edict of, 91. 
National guard, the, 159. 
National State, the, 240. 
Naturalization, 125, 126, 320. 
Naturalization, requirements for, 126, 

127. 
Navigation laws. 246. 
Navy, department of, 273. 
Navy, secretary of, 272, 273. 
Neutrals, rights and duties of, 291- 

293- 
New Netherland, 94. 
New York, becomes a State, IOO. 
New York, under Dutch, 94, 95, 96, 

97- 
New York, under English, 97. 
Nicolls, Col. Richard, 97. 
Nobility, title of, not to be granted, 

321. 
Nominating conventions, 216. 
Nominating " by petition," 217. 
Nominations, how filed, 217. 
Noncombatants, 290. 
Normal schools, State, 195. 
Notes, promissory, 313, 314. 

Oath of office, 221, 324, 344. 



Officers, public, mode of appointment, 

terms, salaries, 347-349. 
Officers, State, appointed, 158. 
Officers, State, elected by legislature, 

158, 159. 
Officers, State, elected by people, 156. 
Orange, Prince of, 99. 
Overseers of the poor, 26. 

Pardon, governor's power to, 155. 
Parents and children, 309. 
Parish, 18. 

Park commissioners, city, 47. 
Partnership, 307, 308. 
Passes prohibited, 345. 
Patients, 249. 
" Patroons," 95. 
Peace, conservator of, 28. 
Peace, justice of the, 27. 
Pensions, United States, 274. 
People, power of, in the national gov- 
ernment, 240. 
Personal property, 309. 
Personal rights, 113, 114. 
Persona non grata, 288. 
Petition, right of, 120, 254, 325, 

330- 
Pilgrims, the, 89. 

Piracies, Congress may punish, 320. 
Pirate, 244. 
Plaintiff, 178. 
Plea, 172. 
Plurality, 221. 
Police, chief of, city of New York, 

63- 
Police court, village, 37, 38. 

Police department, city of New York, 

63. 
Political parties, government by, 214, 
215, 216. 



3 6 4 



INDEX 



Political parties, how organized, 215. 
Political parties, State regulation of, 

216. 
Political year, 343. 
Poll clerks, 218. 
Poll tax, 25. 
Poor, overseers of, 26. 
Postal system, United States, 248. 
Postmaster general, 274. 
Post office department, 274. 
Post offices and post roads, 248. 
Powers forbidden the Upited States, 

253, 254, 255. 
Powers of government, division of, 

241. 
Powers of the States, 252, 253. 
Powers, reserved to States, 326. 
Preamble in the State constitution, 115. 
Presentment by grand jury, 170, 171. 
President, how elected, 326. 
President, legislative powers of, 319. 
President, how elected, 275, 276. 
President, messages of, 271. 
President of the United States, powers 

and duties, 270, 272. 
President, powers and duties of, 322, 

323- 
President, qualifications of, 322. 
President, village, 36, 37. 
Presidential electors, 275. 
Presidential succession, 276, 322. 
President's oath of office, 322. 
President's veto, 268. 
Privileges and immunities of citizens, 

257- 
Primary assembly, original, 133. 
Primary election law, 216. 
Primary meeting, 215, 216. 
Principal and agent, 307. 
Prison labor, 336. 



Prisons, State, superintendent of, 158, 
161. 

Prisons, superintendent of, 338. 

Private enterprises, State and local 
governments not to aid, 209, 210. 

Private laws, enactment forbidden, 148. 

Privateers and privateering, 249, 293, 
294. 

Prizes of war, 291, 293. 

Prohibited powers, 242, 253, 254, 255, 
256. 

Prohibition against States, 256, 321. 

Promissory notes, 313, 314. 

Property, not to be taken without com- 
pensation, 325. 

Public works, superintendent of, 338. 

Punishments, cruel, prohibited, 256, 

3 2 5- 
Punishments, reasonable, guaranteed, 

118. 
Puritans, the, 89. 

Quarantine commissioners, 163. 
Queens, borough of, 55. 
Quorum, in Congress, 318, 334. 

Railroad commissioners, State, 162. 

Real estate, 309. 

Rebellion, debt for suppression of, 327. 

Reciprocity Treaty, 243. 

Record, courts of, 185. 

Recorder of the city of New York, 66. 

« Reeve," 18. 

" Reeve and four discreet men," 133. 

Regents' examinations, 199. 

Regents of the State university, 159, 

198, I99» 342. 
Registration, 331. 
Registration, necessary for voting, 128, 

217, 218. 



INDEX 



365 



Registry, board of, 217, 218. 

Religion, no law establishing, 255. 

Religion, not to be established, 325. 

Religious test, not required, 324. 

Representation, ratio of, 263. 

Representative democratic govern- 
ment, 11. 

Representative, United States, 317. 

Representatives, House of, 317. 

Representatives, how apportioned, 327. 

Representatives, United States, election 
of, 264. 

Reprieve, governor's power to, 155. 

Republic, 299. 

Republican government, 257, 299, 324. 

Revenue bills, 266, 319.- 

Richmond, borough of, 58. 

Right of Assembly, 330. 

Right of petition, 120. 

Right to vote, 124, 128. 

Rights, civil and political, 121. 

Rights, criminals may lose, 121, 122. 

Rights of accused persons, 118, 119, 
167, 168, 172. 

Rights, personal, 113, 325, 329, 330. 

Rights retained by the people, 257, 
325- 

Sale, contract of, 305. 

" Schepens," 96, 97. 

School commissioner, 190, 191. 

School district, 191. 

School district meeting, 192, 193. 

School district meeting, voters at, 192. 

School district officers, 192, 193. 

School funds, 342. 

School moneys, 194, 195. 

School tax, 193, 194. 

School teachers, 196. 

School trustee, 193, 194. 



Schools, city superintendent of, 47. 

Schools, free, 196, 197, 342. 

Schools, normal, 195. 

Schools, public, 189, 190. 

Schools, State superintendent of, 159, 

190, 198. 
Schools, superintendent of, city of New 

York, 65. 
" Schout," 96, 97. 
Searches and seizures, 255, 325. 
Searches and seizures, unreasonable, 

3 2 5- 

Secretary of state, 156, 157. 

Sectarian schools, State not to aid, 
342, 343- 

Senate districts, 140, 332, 333. 

Senate, president of, may act as gov- 
ernor, 156. 

Senate, State, 133, 134, 141. 

Senate, State, presiding officer of, 144, 
156. 

Senate, State, power to reject gover- 
nor's nominations, 149, 150. 

Senate, State, representation of the city 
of New York in, 141. 

Senate, United States, 262, 318. 

Senators, State, 331, 332. 

Senators, State, may be more than fifty, 
141. 

Senators, State, ratio for apportionment 
of, 140. 

Senators, United States, 149, 262, 263, 
3i8. 

Senators, United States, election of, 
149, 262. 

Senate, United States, vacancy, how 
rilled, 262. 

Sentence, 174, 175. 

Sheriff, 78, 79. 

Shire, English, 73, 74, 153. 



3 66 



INDEX 



"Shire mote," the, 74. 

Slavery prohibited, 256, 326. 

Silver certificates, 248. 

Sinking funds, State, 341. 

Soldiers, not to be quartered, 255, 325. 

" Sovereign " States, 85, 86. 

Sovereignty, defined, 85, 86. 

Speaker, 134, 144, 156, 263, 264, 318. 

Speaker, may act as governor, 156. 

Speaker, power of, 267. 

Specie payment, may not be suspended, 

34J. 

Speech, freedom of, guaranteed, 120. 

Stamp Act Congress, 225. 

State, a municipal corporation, 84. 

State as a political unit, 225. 

State, a " sovereign," 85. 

State constitution, 100, 103, 104, 108, 
109, no, 329-345. 

State, defined, 84, 85. 

State, department of, 272, 273. 

State, duties of, 87. 

State governments independent of na- 
tional government, 241. 

State powers, 252, 253. 

State, powers of, 87, 303. 

State, relations of, to lesser govern- 
ments, 85. 

State, secretary of, 156, 157, 272. 

States, how admitted, 324. 

States, prohibited from certain acts, 
321. 

States to be protected, 257. 

States to be protected from invasion, 

3 2 4- 
State treasurer, governor's power to 

suspend, 155. 
Statute, 179. 

Statutes, publication of, 340. 
Street commissioners, city, 47. 



Stuyvesant, Peter, 95, 96. 

Suffrage, persons excluded from, 331. 

Summons, 178. 

Superintendent of banks, Slate, 158, 

161. 
Superintendent of insurance, State, 

161. 
Superintendent of public instruction, 

State, 159, 190, 198. 
Superintendent of public works, State, 

158, 161. 
Superintendent of State prisons, 158, 

161. 
Supervisor, 24, 25, 7 
Supervisors, county board of, 76. 
Supervisors, how elected, 76. 
Supervisors, powers of, 336. 
Supervisors, powers of county board 

of, 76, 77. 
Supreme court, appellate division, 339. 
Supreme court, State, 338. 
Surrogate, 81, 184, 185. 
Surrogate courts, 340. 

Tariffs, 289, 290. 

Taxation and representation, 225, 226. 

Taxation without consent, 225, 226. 

Tax, capitation or direct, 253. 

Tax, Commissioners, State, 158,161, 207 

Tax districts, 203. 

"Tax dodging," 207. 

Tax, no export, to be laid, 254. 

Tax, power of Congress to, 245. 

Tax sales, 206. 

Taxes, assessment and collection of, 

201, 202, 203, 206. 
Taxes, direct, 317, 321. 
Taxes, direct and indirect, 202, 203, 

2 45- 
Taxes must be uniform, 243, 






JXDEX 



367 



Taxes, special, 207, 20S. 

Taxes, State and local, 202, 203, 204, 

206, 207. 
Taxes, United States, 202. 
Taxes, village, 204. 
Teachers, 196. 
Teachers' licenses, 196. 
Territorial government, 250, 251. 
Territories become States, how, 251. 
Territories, organized and unorganized, 

250, 251. 
Territory of the United States, 249- 

25 1 - 

Territory, United States, government 
of, 324. 

Testator, 312. 

" Tithingman," 26. 

Title of nobility not to be granted, 254. 

Town, a municipal corporation, 9, 

Town board, 28. 

Town clerk, 25. 

Town, defined, 9. 

Town, governed through town meet- 
ing, 9- 

Town meeting, example of direct 
democratic government, 10. 

Town meeting, in America, 21. 

Town meeting in England, 18. 

Town meeting, old form of govern- 
ment, 16. 

Town meeting, powers of, 14. 

Town meetings, first in New York, 21. 

Town meetings, when held, 13. 

Town officers, 23. 

Town officers, pay of, 28, 349. 

Town, relations of, to county, 77. 

Town, relations of, to State, 28. 

Travelers, rights of, 289. 

Transportation, contracts for, 306. 

Treason, 323. 



Treason, defined, 155. 
Treason, power of legislature to par- 
don, 155. 
Treaties, 288, 289. 
Treasurer, city, 47. 

Treasurer of the city of New York, 62. 
Treasurer, State, 155, 156, 157. 
Treasurer, State, may be suspended, 

338. 
Treasury, department of, 273. 
Treasury notes, 248, 249. 
Treasury, secretary of the, 272, 273. 
Trial by jury, 116, 1 17, 172, 173. 
Tribe, ancient German, 73, 133, 153. 
Trust companies, 161. 
Trustees, village, 35. 
" Twelve Select Men," 95. 

Union free schools, 194. 

United States a nation, 225. 

United States a permanent union, 239. 

United States, a sovereign power, 86. 

United States bonds, 209. 

United States Deposit Fund, 194. 

United States government begins in 
Continental Congress, 227, 228. 

United States government, one of spe- 
cific powers, 241. 

United States government, powers of, 
242. 

United States not a league of States, 
238. 

United States, not to be sued, 326. 

United States territory, 249, 250, 251. 

University of the State of New York, 
198. 

Verdict of the jury, 174. 
Vestry meeting, 18. 
Veto, defined, 46. 



3 68 



INDEX 



Veto, governor's, 147, 337. 

Veto, mayor's, 46. 

Veto power, president's, 268. 

Veto, president's, 319. 

Vice president, 318. 

Vice president of the United States, 

275- 
Village charter, 35. 

Village elections, special, 38. 
Village election, annual, 36. 
Village government, why a separate, 33. 
Village government, plan of, 34. 
Village lawmakers, 38. 
Village officers, 37. 
Village, part of town, 34. 
Village police court, 37, 38. 
Village, population necessary for, 33. 
Village president, 36, 37. 
Villages, classes of, 35. 
Village trustees, 35, 36. 
Village trustees, powers of, 36. 
Vote, the right to, 124, 327. 
Vote, right to, a political right, 128, 129. 
Vote, right to, how lost, 128. 
Vote, who may, 125, 126. 
Voters at school district meetings, 128, 
129. 



Voters, qualifications of, 125, 126, 330, 

331- 
Voting, 220. 
Voting, duty of, 129. 

Walloons, 90, 91. 
War, Congress may declare, 320. 
War, declaration of, 290. 
War, department of, 273. 
War powers, 244, 270, 271. 
War, property rights during, 291. 
War, rights and duties of nations dur- 
ing, 290, 293. 
War, secretary of, 272, 273. 
Ward, 309. 
Wards, 45. 

Warrant, arrest by, 167. 
Warrants, 325. 

Washington, made president, 234. 
Weather bureau, State, 162. 
West India Company, 94, 95, 96. 
Wills, 185, 312. 
Witness against self, 255. 
Witnesses, must attend and testify, 255. 
Women may vote, when, 125, 128. 
Worship, freedom of, 117, 329. 
Writ of habeas corpus, 118. 



AUG 31 190| 



,!;,!E R . ARY 0F CONGRESS 



027 272 372 2 



